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i-cant-sing · 4 months

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Time Traveller AU pt 6

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Time Traveller AU masterlist is here. Check out my MASTERLIST for more!

PART 7 is here!

Its been a week since Baldwin finally came clean about the kiss with Charlotte, a week since you cleared of him "cheating on you", not that you cared if he did, and a week since you realised Guy tried and failed miserably to sabotage Baldwin through Charlotte.

Its also been a week over the due date you were supposed to return to Egypt to get your tools from Abbas, but its been hard to leave when Baldwin insists on spending time with you 24/7 because wants to make up to you for "suspecting his devotion to you".

He draped himself over your shoulders, caging you in his arms as he pecks your temple. "I'm sorry for making you doubt my love for you, princess. No, no- clearly, I'm the one at fault! Let me make it upto you~" Ugh, sometimes him being such a green flag is making it seem like a red flag. But you cant argue because... well, if you dont let Baldwin shower you in affection, then he might stop chanting "its my fault, princess" and change the narrative into "its your fault, princess and you need to be punished for doubting me- the KING, for slapping me- the KING, for thinking yourself so highly that you think i cant have all the women i want, me- the KING! To the dungeons you go, darling!"

Anyways, you both were now sitting down in the royal gardens, Baldwin's head laid in your lap as you worked your fingers through his luscious locks, absentmindedly braiding his hair while he made you tell some stories.

"And so, she found out her husband was cheating on her because she found out a jar of strawb- a jar of lard in her house." You looked down at his face, finding him already staring up at you, eyes full of awe. "And she doesnt eat lard. She hates it, so she never allowed it in the house."

Baldwin let out a small gasp. "And then what did this- Sharkerilla lady do?"

"Shakarina left Pickle. Divorced him." You told him, adding in small daisies in his hair. His face displayed pity. "Wow. And how do you know these people?"

You paused for a second. You cant explain to him how Shakira and Pique were celebrities and the concept of drama channels on youtube.

"We were neighbours." You hummed, patting his head. "There, I did your hair. Now I'm going-"

"No. Come on, we havent spent enough time." He whined, blue eyes looking at you pleadingly.

You scoff. "Baldwin, we've spent the entire day together. We ate breakfast and lunch together, we read books in the library, we looked at tiaras and crowns for the wedding, we even played chess." He lifted his head up from your lap and rested it on his palm as he leaned on his shoulder.

"And you lost all 5 games." Baldwin grinned, making you smack his forehead gently.

"I need to go-"

"Why?"

"Because I need to make arrangements for my trip to Egypt." You explained as Baldwin groaned, plopping his head face-first into your lap. "No." He mumbled against your dress.

"No?"

"No." He raised his head, pouting at you. "You're not going to Egypt. I miss you too much."

You gave him a lazy smile. "I'll be back soon."

"Not soon enough." He argued. "I have to go find my family, Baldwin." You continued on with your lie, raising a hand to caress his cheek. He sighed and leaned into your touch. "I can send the knights to find them." "They wont be able to. Only I will. Besides, I need to know what theyre like, if its even best to let them back into my life again, hm?"

He pondered over for a moment. "Then I will come along?" "What? Why?" He gave you a charming smile. "Because I dont want to part from you. Not for weeks, not for days, not even for-" He leaned up close to your face, eyes darting from your eyes to your lips back to your eyes. "-a minute."

Your face flushed and you looked to your side, using your hand to push his face away, making him chuckle as he grabbed the same hand and pressed a kiss to it. "You're so adorable, my little prude."

You shot him a glare. "I- I'm not a prude. But at least one of us should have a little shame."

He gave a chuckle, poking your still flushed cheek. "Shame? Whatever for? I love you." His eyes lit up in amusement as your head whipped towards him. Baldwin raised a brow at you. Its not the first time he's confessed, but... it still catches you offguard everytime.

"Did you hear me? I love you." He repeated, eyes still twinkling at how you continued to become flustered.

You opened your mouth and then closed it like an idiot, not knowing how to reply.

"Thank you." You finally said, looking anywhere but at him. He burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh god- I tell you- I love you and you say "thank you"? You really are something out of this world!" Baldwin teased you, making you huff.

"Lets not get off topic, Baldwin. You cant come with me to Egypt because you cant abandon Jerusalem. If your throne is empty, Guy- though he doesnt have the brain for it, or Salauddin or someone else will attempt to take your throne from you! You have a responsibility to your people! Keep them safe." You reminded him.

Baldwin stared at you before sighing, leaning back and resting his head on his arms. "You're always so smart, aren't you?" He smiled with his eyes closed. "I suppose it is a good thing that you care so much for your future subjects."

Next day, you were all set to leave for Egypt again. Baldwin and you stood at the gates of the castle as the kingdom all gathered around to bid you safe travels. You were ignoring Baldwin's stupid lovey dovey eyes boring holes into you, because there are people here and you dont want this blue orbed man to embarrass you.

But alas, he took your hand in his, making you look at him. He flashed you his dimples, bringing up your hand to press a kiss to it, the crowd cooing while you blushed (though it could be mistaken for anger with how hard you were frowning).

Tearing his eyes away from you, he addressed his people. "O people of Jerusalem! Your princess is going on an important journey. I ask you all to pray for her safety and well being!" The crowd looked on you two with awe, or more at Baldwin for being such a doting husband-to-be.

"While I know that your hearts must ache to see your princess depart from us for some time, I bring you good news to keep your hearts at peace as well." You looked at Baldwin in confusion. Good news? What is he talking about?

Baldwin smiled at you, the sunlight hitting his face at angle that made him look majestic.

"In 3 weeks time, the princess and I will marry!" Your eyes widened as the crowd erupted in cheer.

Baldwin hugged you close, and you whispered. "Three weeks? But I'll be gone for at least two! I wont have enough time to make-"

"Dont worry about a thing, princess. Sibylla and I will make all the arrangements necessary and trust me, it'll be a wedding for generations to remember." He pulled back, grinning at you as he pecked your forehead. "You just focus on returning safely, okay?"

Sibylla, Guy and their son were also there to bid you farewell. Sibylla pulled you in for a tight hug, promising to give you a grand wedding and that she'll keep your prefrences in mind. Their son ran off and Sibylla went to chase after him, leaving you alone with Guy.

"Bye." Guy gruffly said while you smiled tightly at him. "I know what you did, you buffoon." He looked at you slighted. "What the hell are you-"

"Charlotte? The letters? Yeah, we'll talk when I return. And you better not cause anymore trouble for me or else-" You turned to look at Baldwin, waving sweetly at him. Guy gulped, taking in your threat.

As usual, your first stop was at Salauddin's camp. You would go without stopping here, the knights Baldwin sent with you claimed to know the way but... you dont trust them to know how to survive the desert. And you knew you were right when some people from your caravan started feeling faint.

"Return to Jerusalem and take care of yourself." "But we cant just leave you, princess-" "You are not going to be able to serve me if you dont survive the desert. Salauddin's camp is near and with his guards combined with mine, I'll be more than safe. Go now. And tell the king that I insisted you returned." You assured them, commanding a few knights to guard them on their way back.

Looking ahead, you saw the sand hill beyond which Salauddin's camp was. Isabella, your lady-in-waiting, gave you your niqaab and chaddar.

"And then, he told me about who Charlotte was and what really happened. It was all a big misunderstanding." You told Salauddin as he moved his pawn.

"You believed him?" He raises a brow as you made your move.

"Of course! I already knew Guy was behind it. I figured it from the letters, and his face practically gave it all away when I confronted him about it." You reached under your veil to fan yourself. "Is it burning in here or am I just imagining it?"

Salauddin turned and brought you some cold water. "Guy could be a threat to you. Dont trust him."

You turned your head to the side, barely lifting your veil before bringing the glass underneath it to your lips, gulping it down as you let out a relieved sigh. "I know. Guy is a tool, and tools are meant to be used."

His lips quirked slightly at your words. Sitting back down, he played his move. "When do you plan on leaving Baldwin?"

"Soon. The plan is in motion." You took some time before moving your knight. Salauddin wasnt making this game easy for you this time and neither was the hot temperature.

He leaned forward, taking your knight with his bishop. "And how do you plan on doing that when your fiance has just announced your wedding date?"

You narrowed your eyes at him. "How did you- spies?" Salauddin's silence confirmed how news travelled so fast. "You dont need to worry. I'll be long gone before the wedding day."

"Care to indulge me on your plan?" He popped a date in his mouth.

"No." You replied making him glare at you. "If your plan involves relying on Guy, then you're even stupider than you look."

You scoff, pushing his king down. "I'm sorry, how many rounds have you won against me?" He smirks, though you suspect that he's just trying to cover up for being a sore loser.

"Maybe I just let you win so that you get to live." Of course, how can you forget his "win or you die" version of chess.

"Whatever you say, grandpa." His jaw clenched, making you chuckle. "Your existence gives me a headache. Leave."

As you walked out, you're suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness. Under your veil, your face is sweaty, you cant even use your hands to wipe it away because of how clammy they are, you even feel beads of sweat rolling down from your neck to your leg.

"Are you alright?" Salauddin came up behind you, eyes studying you stumbling a bit.

"Yeah- I'm just- hot..." You muttered, sweat gathering around your upper lip while your mouth felt like cotton. He watched you blink slowly as the sun hit you in the face, making you raise your hand to shield yourself, even though your muscle cramped.

"Y/n?" You heard him call you, but black dots clouded your vision and then in a second, you fainted.

You woke up to the sound of drums playing outside. Looking around, you recognised this to be the women's tent you had been in the first time Baldwin brought you here.

Isabella walked in, halting for a moment when she realised you were awake before rushing towards you. "Princess? Are you okay?" She poured you a glass of water, helping you drink it. "What happened?"

"You fainted from the heat. We were going to take you back to the kingdom but Sultan Salauddin advised us all to stay put here because the air was only going to get hotter for the rest of the day. And by night, it would be too cold for us to make it back." She smiled gently. "He was kind enough to offer us stay here."

You nodded and sighed. For sure none of you wouldve survived if you were to return to Jerusalem today.

You walked out of the tent to see it was night now. The drums you heard earlier were being played by some men of Salauddin's, accompanied by few women clapping and having an overall merry time around the bonfire.

You didnt spot Salauddin with them, but you suppose he's probably either working or resting.

The temperature had indeed dropped as night fell, and you wrapped a shawl around before joining the camp fire. You sat down on the ground with some women, smiling as they immeadiately welcomed you warmly. The one on your right was quick to show you her baby, and you recognised him to be the one you saved.

"Jibrael." She told you his name. The baby was almost a month old, and his chubby cheeks made you coo. Jibrael- or Gabriel, is an angel who acted as an intermediary between God and humans and as bearer of revelation to the prophets, most notably to Muhammad (PBUH). In Christianity, Gabriel was the archangel announcing the coming birth of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. In Judaism, Gabriel is a helper to Daniel and a warrior angel for God's cause.

You played with the baby for a while before handing him back to his mother to be put down for sleep. It was getting cold now and most had already left to go to bed now. You wrapped the shawl around you closer, snuggling into it as your eyes gazed at the dancing flames. You felt someone sit next to you.

"How are you feeling now?" Salauddin asked, keeping his eyes ahead.

"I'm fine. Thank you for catching me."

"I didnt. You fell. It was funny." You turned to glare at him (the respectable gap between you two did not go unnoticed... or unappreciated by you.) and perhaps for the first time you saw him smiling. Genuinely.

Though his thick beard covered most of his lower third of the face, you could see his sharp jawline that sculpted his face. Strong. Hard. His lips, bottom one appearing to be plumper than the upper one, were resting in a relaxed smile.

The moonlight seemed to soften his sharp features, but his kohl lined eyes adorned with luscious lashes shone with amusement and... something in the orange hue of the bonfire.

He turned his head to you. "What?" You were thankful for your veil covering your expression for being caught staring at him like an idiot. You shake your head, dismissing him, turning your head back towards the dying fire.

"What are you going to do once you leave Baldwin?" Salauddin asked, stoking the fire.

"Leave."

"To where?" You shrug. "Anywhere. Maybe try finding my family. Or venture somewhere else."

"He wont give up so easily." You rolled your eyes. "Yeah yeah, because he loves me and all-"

"He wont forgive your betrayal." Salauddin cut you off. "He wont forgive you for the embarrasment. He wont forgive you for the insult of rejecting a king. He wont just- let you go." He looked at you, his tone haunting as he uttered the next words.

"Baldwin will hunt you down. And he will make you wish you were dead."

You stared at him, processing his words. Baldwin would... hurt me?

"Are we talking about the same man?" You ask him with a light chuckle, though your throat has ran dry.

He nods. "I know he seems like he couldnt hurt a fly, and physically, he couldnt until you cured him. But I've seen him on the battlefield. I've had him as my enemy and I've observed him obliterate people who just tick him off." He offered you some dates, and you took a few. You were hungry, and these looked pretty good right now.

"Baldwin is smart, calculating. He's the king, he has the power to end his enemy very easily. At the drop of a hat. But he doesn't. He waits for the perfect moment, or rather creates the perfect chance to torture any man who had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of his anger. And he does it with a completely cool, clear mind." And even though Salauddin has fought Baldwin many times, they both know they're only fighting for their people, for their religion. Its nothing personal, so they're technically not enemies.

"So what do you suggest I do to not piss him off so badly? I've already tried rejecting him respectfully."

He stayed quiet for a few moments, stoking the fire. He smiled when he felt your curious eyes on him.

"There is a way." He said.

"Which is...?"

His smile widened even more. "You're not ready for it yet." You frowned. "Drop the act, Salauddin. You came here by yourself because you wanted to tell me the plan. Stop teasing and just tell me." He chuckled hearing you become frustrated.

"In due time, Y/n. In due time." You roll your eyes, standing up. "I'm not going to beg you to tell me. But your "plan", which I dont think exists, it better not mess with my escape." You stomped back inside your tent, and Salauddin snickered as you tripped a bit on your chadar on the way in.

He stood up, giving a nod to the rest as they all settled in for the night.

"Salauddin!" You cried out, your eyes full of tears that he could see from a mile away, even if your were wearing a niqaab. He could feel your agony, your distress. You were standing in the middle of the desert alone, the boiling sun along with your black chadar covering you from head-to-toe, would only be increasing your body temperature. Why were you all alone? He left you with his caravan. Or did Baldwin leave you in this harsh enviorment to die? Did he find out you were going to leave him?

"Salauddin!" You called out to him again, your voice wet from all the crying. This time, he rode his horse towards you. Fast. He needed to get to you, even though the galloping hurt his shoulder. Yes, he got wounded while he was fighting. He sustained many injuries, many gashes, so much so that by the time he reached you, his white armour had turned bloody. But he was not bothered by it, no. He needed to reach you. You. How long have you been out here? Arent you dying of thirst?

Your arms were still wide open, though drooping from the lack of energy. He could hear you sobbing as you called him again, and he all but ran towards you, bodies colliding as he pulled you into a strong embrace. Muscled arms wrapped around you, comforting you that he's here now. You're safe now.

Salauddin looked around as you bawled into his chest, trying to see if everyone had really abandoned you here and... left you die.

You pulled away from him, but Salauddin didnt remove his hands from you. And thats when he felt the cloth you were wearing. It was too thin. The sun must've burned your skin now. Is that why you're crying? You're in pain?

In a blink, he removed his own thick black chadar that rested on his shoulders and wrapped it around you, pulling it over your head to stop more heat damage.

"Y/n?" He spoke softly as you continued to cry so brokenly as he adjusted the cloth over your body. "What happened?"

"Y-you left me!" You blubbered. He shook his head. "No. I- I left to go in battle. I couldnt take you along. It was dangerous-"

"You left me, Salauddin! You left me here! Baldwin- he hurt me! He hurt me so badly! And you weren't here to protect me!" You sobbed out, your eyes red and swollen from the tears. "I am a part of the ummah! I am a Muslim! You- you were supposed to keep me safe! On your honour, I was in your care! Why didnt you save me, Salauddin?"

Salauddin felt his heart being crushed at your words. He failed to keep you safe? But... he was at war. What was he supposed to do?

He grabbed your shoulders, pulling you to his chest as he rubbed circles into your back. "I'm sorry." He whispered, shushing you as your body shook from tears. "I'm here now. I promise to keep you safe, Y/n. I will never leave you again. I will never let anyone hurt you again. I swear, Allah as my witness, I will do everything to keep you safe." You pulled your head back from his chest, your red eyes looking at him weakly.

"You're too late, Salauddin." You whispered and a sharp sound whooshed through the air, making your body jolt in his arms. You both looked down and thats when he saw it-

An arrow. Poking through your chest.

"Y/n?" His voice trembled, watching the life drain out of your eyes.

You fell, and so did Salauddin, catching your body. He couldnt- he couldnt believe it. He cradled you in his arms, readjusting the chadar over you again, softly calling your name.

Wake up. Wake up, Y/n. Return to me.

Footsteps approached him, though he couldnt bare to tear his eyes from you. He already knew who it was.

"Why?" Salauddin asked him.

Baldwin kneeled down to his level, staring at you for a moment before yanking his arrow out of you, making a stream of blood gush out. Salauddin panicked, tried to cover the gaping wound with his hand. He looked at Baldwin in disbelief. This... this was not the Baldwin he knew. Baldwin was never so cruel- so heartless.

"She deserved it." Baldwin stated before stabbing him in the chest.

Salauddin continued to hold you in his arms, watching Baldwin leave on his horse as you two bled out to your deaths in the middle of the desert.

Salauddin woke up with a jolt, his forehead sweaty as he breathed fast. He could feel his heart beating against his chest loudly.

Nightmare. Thats all it was. He was still in his bed, in his tent.

He got up to fetch himself some water, taking sips to slow down his heart. Judging from the darkness, he knew it was still nighttime. It was quiet, everyone was asleep except for a few men he left to guard them.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

Salauddin whipped around just in time to knock the shadowy figure standing behind him with a sword. In a second, Salauddin had overpowered and snapped his neck, only then realising more shadows moving outside his tent.

"We're under attack! WAKE UP!" He yelled before grabbing his two swords and running out to defend his caravan.

You woke up to screaming and Isabella pulling you out of bed.

"We're under attack!" She says, yanking you out of the women's camp that was set on fire. Your eyes were wide and for a moment, you were frozen as you took the scene in front of you.

Fire. There was fire everywhere. All the camps were ablaze, along with some people being burned alive. Haunting screams echoed the entire area. Time slowed down as you saw Salauddin's men fighting... some people. You couldnt figure out who they were, but you knew they werent the knights Baldwin had assigned for you. No, you saw them fighting these mysterious figures as well. They were covered in dark clothes to blend in with the night, had hoods and masks covering their faces but they fought skilfully and very fast.

"Princess, we must leave!" Isabella caught your attention again, dragging you away from the chaos. You saw her following a knight- your knight, who led you towards a horse for you to escape with.

Salauddin... where's Salauddin?

You looked back frantically and you spotted him in the sea of flames, cutting through multiple armed one with his two swords slicing them brutally.

For a moment, your eyes met and then in the next, he screamed your name.

Isabella had pushed you away just in time as two men came at you with swords. You knight yelled at you to run. Again, Isabella pulled you to make an escape but it wasnt long before you two got separated by a woman who was on fire, running in between you two.

"H-help her." You told Isabella who took of her shawl to put out the fire. In the middle of all this commotion, you heard a distinct cry.

A baby's cry.

Jibrael!

It was coming from one of the tents. You ran in, looking around for the baby before spotting the bassinet. You grabbed the crying baby and held it close to your chest, trying to shush it as you walked towards the exit only to halt when you saw who was blocking it.

The shadowy figure. He was wearing dark hood and mask, while the rest of his armour was made of leather. He was armed with swords, daggers and a satchel.

It clicked. Assassin.

The assassin stared at you with dark eyes taking a step forward. You backed away, holding the crying baby protectively to your chest. He tilted his head at you, and for a second, you thought you saw amusement in his eyes.

Slowly, he walked out of the tent without saying a word but he stood right behind the curtain of the tent. You saw his shadow pull out his sword before standing there still.

What is he doing?

You turned around, hoping to find another exit but thats when you saw it. Two more shadows stood outside the tent and then they dropped something on the tent walls.

Fire. They lit the entire tent on fire and stood outside with their swords, giving you the choice to either die by their swords or burn yourself alive.

The fire spread fast, burning the flammable tent easily. Dark smoke started to surround you making you cough. The baby continued to cry harshly and you pulled him under your chadar to protect him from the fire and smoke.

But you didnt realise it until it was too late. Your chadar, your clothes had caught on fire as well. You screamed for help, screamed in agony as your skin burned. It felt like you were being branded, felt like someone was ripping your skin off.

Is this it? Is this how it all ends for you? Suffocated, skin charred, body naked? In a period where no one knows who you really are?

You fell to your knees before hunching over the baby, cradling it in your arms as its harsh cries burst your ears, protecting him from being burned for as long as you can.

Allah... Allah... Allah...

Through the thick smoke, a figure ran and covered your body with a thick cloth, patting down to put out the flames.

He picked your trembling body up, your arms still wrapped around the baby protectively. He walked through the ablaze tent, his face still covered by the smoke, or perhaps your vision was too blurry.

He exited the tent, the smoke cleared out and a gush of air filled your lungs. But you were burned, suffocated and exhausted.

The last thing you saw before your world faded to black was Salauddin's face.

You woke up to the sound of Quran recitation. A gentle, steady voice read the words beautifully.

Fluttering your eyes open, you looked around the room for the source. To your side, you found Salauddin reciting the Quran with his eyes closed in concentration. Was he a hafidh? (Hafidh is someone who has memorised the Quran completely).

He opened his eyes when finished reciting, looking stunned for a second to find you awake before a small smile graced his lips.

"We're in Egypt now." He informed you before concern washed over his face. "How are you feeling now? I changed your bandages in the morning, but I think its time to replace them." He grabbed the bowl of water and bandages on your side.

"B-bandages?" He stopped before understanding your confusion.

"You were in the tent when the assassins set it on fire. Your... clothes caught on fire, which stuck to your skin and burned it as well. I had to remove the remains of your clothes to treat your burns-"

"What?!" Your eyes looked down to confirm his words, he had indeed changed your clothes. "Why did you-" Your hands touched your face, heart sinking as you realised your veil was not there.

"You removed my niqaab?! My clothes?!" Your fury was only a disguise for your fear of what he'd seen, what he'd done to you in your vulnerable state.

He shook his head. "I had to do it as soon as we were safe. You were hurt-"

"Why? Why did you have to do it? Why not Isabella or any of the other women?!"

His face turned solemn. "Isabella... was gravely injured. She was in no position to look after you. Most people- most women from my tribe did not survive. The few who did were also wounded. The men... I just thought you wouldnt prefer someone you didnt know to look at you in such state." Salauddin looked at you, his eyes clear. "I did not do anything unbecoming of a man. Allah as my witness, I did not touch you with ill intent."

Perhaps it was the way he said it, or perhaps you just wanted to keep your mind at peace but... you believed him.

"How's Isabella now?" You let him change the dressings on your arms, watching him like a hawk as he moved quickly and carefully, no unnecessary touches or lingering that would make you uncomfortable. Even when he treated the the burns on the back of your legs, he worked fast, applying some balm on the red areas. The balm was like a cool gel against your irritated skin.

"She's better now. Just needed some rest." He replied as he finished wrapping the bandage on your legs. "Your back." Salauddin softly asked. You hesitated.

He sighed. "Y/n... I need to apply the balm or your skin will scar." You slowly turned around, holding your breath as you removed the robe from your back partially.

If he wanted to, he could've done anything when you were unconcious. You calmed yourself.

Again, Salauddin's hand worked fast, applying the balm quickly and placing some gauze over the marks. He pulled your robe over your back again, letting you turn around with a flushed face.

"My... my face?" You asked cautiously. You did not know if damage had been done there as well.

Salauddin understood you. "Fortunately, your face was save from the flames." He stood up and went over to the wardrobe to grab you a white chadar, handing it to you so that you cover your head with it. "Maybe when you were ducking over Jibrael, your arms covered both you and him from the fire."

"Jibrael...?" You asked. He smiled assuringly. "He's fine. You saved him... again." You sigh in relief. At least this wasnt all for naught.

Salauddin sits back down in the chair and though you've covered your hair with the shawl, he keeps his eyes trailed down on his hands in his lap. "I must ask you of one thing." You peeked at him before keeping your eyes focused on your lap as well.

"Will you... tell Baldwin about this incident?" Why would you when it would only cause Baldwin to panic and prevent you from leaving the castle, or his sight at all? You still need to come here to get parts for your time machine and even if the machine was working, you need to be able to use it without Baldwin or his army of knights breathing down your neck.

"No. It will only cause misunderstandings between you and him and I need to punish the real culprit for it."

He frowned but didn't raise his gaze. "And who might that be?"

"Those men... they were assassins, right?" He hummed. "Judging by how vicious they were, I think they were Ismailis."

Ismailis were a sect of Shia Muslims. Basically, like the great schism of Christianity into Orthodox and Catholic Church, Islam also had a schism that divided it into Sunni and Shia Islam. Shia Islam further had divided into different sects, of which one was Ismailis.

Sunni and Shia Muslims have been at war with each other since the beginning over religious differences. And considering Salauddin was not only Sunni Muslim but also targeted many Ismaili assassins so that they would not oppose his rule, it would be an understatement that they wanted Salauddin dead.

But... you know Salauddin had already gotten rid of most of the assassins and established his dominance over them. You're sure he's already had a peace treaty with them.

"Salauddin, you have an agreement with the Ismailis, don't you?" You watched his eyes widen slightly. "You're on peaceful terms with them at the moment?"

"How did you know?" Of course, the great Sultan Salauddin, an orthodox Sunni, wouldn't want the world to know that he spared the Ismailis. No, that would stir rumours that Salauddin has empathy for Ismailis, for the Shias, and which would lead to the rumours of hum being a Shiite Muslim.

You waved him off. "I know your character. I know of your mercy. Besides, I know both you and the Ismailis have a bigger common enemy- the Christians. Its more than likely that the Ismailis are supporting you so that you defeat Baldwin and claim Jerusalem, then they can focus on you. Plus, if the Ismailis wanted to kill you, why wait until now? They know you've been camping outside Jerusalem for months now." Salauddin was... impressed by your deduction skills to say the least. How are you connecting the dots so fast? Just who are you, Y/n?

You rubbed your chin. "So that means that someone not only hired the assassins but also wants us to think that the Ismailis were behind it all." Who could it be? Someone who wants to harm Salauddin but... they also wanted to harm you. It couldnt be the Roman Catholics or other Christians. No, they'd know better than to interfere with Baldwin, their Holy Emperor's war. Especially not with his wife-to-be in harms way. Who... who would know that you're with Salauddin and still attempt an assassination-

"Guy." You muttered, pinching the nose of your bridge. Of course, its fucking Guy, shit for brains Guy who cant sit still and wait his turn to play king.

"Guy? Why would he attack me when you're still here?" Salauddin's mind immeadiately gives an answer as soon as he asks out loud.

"Because I am here." You groan. "He's trying to eliminate us both, or at the very least- me, while I'm with you so that he can provoke Baldwin to go to war with you because you "killed" his future wife. He would tell Baldwin that it doesnt matter if they were Ismailis or not, we were all Muslims and this is just how Muslims are! He'd send Baldwin off to not only go to war with you but rather go to war with Muslims everywhere! And knowing Guy, he probably hopes that Baldwin dies in the process of his rampage. If you, me or Baldwin are all dead, or even one of us is, then Guy will only have to worry about dealing with one less person. His best bet was probably to get rid of me and you both, then have Baldwin go to war with all the Muslims who killed his fiancee. He's using all of us as pawns so that he gets to sneak on to the throne and be king!"

You heard Salauddin sigh. Perhaps he agreed with your theory. Perhaps he didnt. Whatever he may think, you know he will still conduct a thorough investigation of his own to find out who the real culprit is,

"Dont worry, I will deal with Guy. In fact, I'll let you have him to slaughter as you please." Of course, Salauddin will kill Guy. He has to pay for the blood of all his people.

Salauddin watched you get up from the bed and walk towards the vanity. "How long will these take to heal?" You asked, referring to your burns. "Usually take about a month, but the balm I used will significantly fade the marks." Good. You dont need Baldwin freaking out over them.

He stood up to take his leave. "I'll check on what information they've been able to gather from the assassin we caught. You-" He pointed towards the bed. "Rest. I mean it. These burns will only get worse in the heat outside, thats why I gave you the coolest room in the palace." He continued to glare at you until you finally sighed and sat on the bed. "I have to go see Isabelle-" You tried but he raised his hand. "No. You are to stay here, in your room. No one gets in, and no one gets out. I dont trust anyone to not try to kill you, not even in your own entourage- whatever is left of them. My men are stationed right outside. If you need anything, you tell them. But you are not to leave your chambers."

"I'll see you at dinner." He left and you saw the guards stationed outside your door.

The great thing about Egyptian palaces was that they had big windows to allow for ventilation. So you were already out of the window and climbing along the edge. You were about to jump when you heard someone call you.

"P-princess?!" Isabelle looked at you in horror. Apparently, you had climbed down near the balcony of her room. "Oh hey, Isabelle! How are you now?"

"I- I'm fine- princess, please get down from there!" She practically begged, fearing for your life. You climbed over her balcony and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay! Because I need you to do me a favour." You gave her a sweet smile while she looked at you in confusion. "See, I need to go out for a bit but Salauddin has told me to stay in and rest. So... I need you to cover for me again, just like last time."

"I- what- princess-"

"I wouldnt ask you if it wasnt of grave importance." You pleaded, finally making her give in. "Okay, I'll go to your room-" You stop her when she begins walking away.

"You cant just walk in there. There's guards stationed there and they wont let you in."

"Then how am I supposed to get in?"

You smiled at her. She didnt like that smile. It wasnt... well meaning.

"Well..." You looked at the balcony and she followed your gaze, almost immediately coming to tears.

"Princess please-"

"I am right here. I will help you, I promise Isabelle! I wont let you fall."

After helping a trembling Isabelle climb into your room, you had finally made your way to the madrassa. You had covered your face with your chadar and sneaking inside was no feat.

Abbas jumped out of his seat the moment you entered.

"Y/n! I thought you forgot all about me- wait what happened to your hands?" He referred to the bandages.

"I had an accident while conducting an experiment." "What experiment? Can I be a part of it? Please please please-"

"Abbas." You silenced him. "Business first. Did you make the tools I asked you to?" He quickly ran to his desk and pulled them out from the drawer. You examined them. They werent the best but you could make do with them. You nodded before asking for a paper so that you could draw the last few bits you needed.

"I need these by the end of this week." Abbas chuckled. "Oh I thought you were joking. How do you expect me to build- whatever this is! in a week? No way. I would need to get all the material and-"

"Abbas. I need it this week. I dont care how, but you have to do it."

He looked at you suspiciously. "Maybe if you could just tell me what it is that you're making-"

"No. I cant. And you will make me this by the end of the week, if not earlier because I have a very good reward waiting for you."

Abbas rolled his eyes. "I dont need your money-"

"I will let you ask me anything you want. Any question on any topic you'd like." You knew Abbas's thirst for knowledge.

You saw the twinkle in his eyes. "I will still take the money." "Of course, but I'll pay you after you make me this." He sighed and agreed.

"Wait- check this please?" He handed you his journal that had some math equations. You huffed, grabbing his pen and working on the mistakes. "I'm doing this just so that you do my work." You gave him some other math problems you did in grade 8 and handed it back to him.

You turned to leave before pausing.

"Abbas?" He hummed. "I think... we should set some security measures." You whispered.

"Whatever for?"

"Just in case someone came looking for me or my work. You know you're not supposed to tell anyone about this."

"I couldnt even if I wanted to." He tilted his head. "Why would someone come looking for you? Are you in trouble?"

You shake your head. "No. But you're aware of how other... scholars are eager to steal ideas." He nodded, being a victim of such crime.

"What do you have in mind?"

Salauddin was informed when you had returned to the palace. Of course he knew the moment you left. This was his Egypt. Not a bird flies without his knowledge here.

He sent out a spy after you, both to keep you safe and to follow you around. He couldnt help but let out a huff when he was told of your daring climb out of the window. Didnt he tell you to stay in bed?

"This girl..." He grumbles.

The spy told him that you went inside the madrassa. Why? What business could you possibly have there?

Perhaps you're creating a poison? To kill Baldwin? No, there would be easier ways to get poison. You did tell him and Baldwin that you were going to Egypt to find your family, but he has a hard time believing that.

Just what were you upto?

He'll find out soon enough. This is his kingdom, he finds out things. And he'll find out your secret too.

He knocked on your door before entering. You were sitting on your bed, your face now covered with a niqaab and your hair with his white chadar. His clothes. He felt something warm in his heart at the thought.

"How are you now?" He asked, his hands clasped behind his back.

"I'm fine. Just bored waiting here all day." You sighed exasperatedly.

Such a liar.

"I apologise for not being able to entertain you. I was busy with the assassin." You looked at him in anticipation. "He didn't reveal much but he did say that they were hired. I suppose that would bring us closer to your theory."

He watched your eyes narrow in thought. "It has to be Guy. He knew I was going to the desert to you first. He needed to get rid of me without anything to come back on him. Coward."

The door was knocked.

"I hope you dont mind- I had them bring dinner up here." Salauddin explained, letting the servants in. They set down a dastarkhawan in the balcony. A red table cloth was set on the ground, onto which many dishes were placed. You both sat down on cushions, the area was lit up with candles placed. You were busy admiring the view of the pyramids from your seat while Salauddin poured you some ginger kehwa.

"Here." You lifted your niqaab a bit to sip the hot tea, a sigh escaping your lips. Salauddin's lips quirked a bit but he, like you, kept his eyes focused on the pyramids.

You picked up the plate of dates from your side, knowing how fond he is of them. "Here." You mimicked his voice, making him smile as he grabbed a piece.

You both silently ate, admiring the view and enjoying each others presence.

Some time later, you were both done with dinner and just sat in silence. That is until Salauddin spoke.

"I'm sorry." You looked at him. "For letting you get hurt."

You exhaled, trailing your eyes back towards the night sky that was littered with gleaming stars.

"I know. But you shouldnt be, Salauddin. I'm not made of porcelain."

I know. I saw you jumping off the palace walls with the confidence of an assassin and the grace of a headless chicken.

"Still, you're under my care. I am responsible for you-"

"I free you of this burden." You're not a burden. "I am not that hurt and I am not scarred for life. If anything, all that incident made me question is just how far would man go?" Your eyes glazed over as you recalled the incident in the tent, where the assassin left you and the baby to burn to death. You could understand killing you, but a baby? He was willing to let a baby burn?

"It makes me believe just how barbaric people were to the Ahl al-Bayt (family of Prophet Muhammad PBUH). How easy it was for them to slaughter his lineage, how easy it was for them to keep water from them, how their hearts did not halt for a moment when they heard the cries of Ali Asghar- who they killed with an arrow in the neck." Your eyes glistened. "A baby. He was just a baby. How would've his father felt in that moment, holding his dead son in his arms, knowing he had to bring him home to his wife?" The battle of Karbala was one of the most heart wrenching tragedies of Islam and whats worse is that Prophet Muhammad knew of it years before it happened. He knew his own grandsons will face martyrdom years before it actually happened, when they were just little children in his arms.

"Man is cruel." Salauddin stated.

"But Allah made man. Why... would he allow man to be so cruel? Even animals are not this merciless." You wondered.

"Because man cannot see God." He says. "There are signs of His existence, signs for those who wish to be guided. Animals can see God. Angels can see God. Humans... Allah has made us with the ability to think, to choose. Man chooses to be cruel when he forgets that Allah is watching, that these things- the stones, the trees, everything around him? They're all living beings who will testify against man." He smiles. "But that is why the true believers also have a greater reward in the hereafter. What do you think of the reward, of what you'll get when you enter heaven? You dream of wealth, of food, of all luxuries. But there's a greater reward waiting for us. Do you know what that is?"

You gave a slight shake of your head.

"The true believers will see Allah. They will get to meet their Lord, their Creator, the One who saw them through it all, the One who knows their secrets and kept them hidden, the One continued to shower His blessings upon them even when they were not grateful." Those words... they comforted you. How peaceful it is to the heart to hear that your Creator waits for you. The One who has seen you shed tears and took care of you in this world will also take care of you in the next. And at the same time, this is such devastating news for the sinners too. Those who act selfishly, who forget who their Lord is, they will end up in hell and will never get the opportunity to see their Creator again, to ask of mercy from the most Merciful.

"Still..." You mumbled, wanting to find an excuse for such wickedness.

"It is not our place to ask why, Y/n. Allah does not owe us answers, explanations. He already has given us His book for guidance, his prophets for example. But know this- everything happens for a reason. Maybe the battle of Karbala was just to show us how quick man can turn on his own. Perhaps in the future, a time will come when people will kill many women and children, slaughter men so brutally while the entire world watches and yet... no one does anything. And then people will wonder- surely, man is not so evil. Surely, man wouldn't kill innocent children. Perhaps then they will remember history."

Salauddin woke up with a sigh. He had gone to sleep after he left your room last night, but he woke up from yet another dream he had of you. You. You. You. Since that night in the desert, he's been having constant dreams about you. Its either you dying at the hands of Baldwin or Guy, or its you asking him to help you. Tonight, he dreamt of you two celebrating Ramadan together, with you picking up the plate and offering him dates, however unlike dinner, you were sitting much closer to him in his dream, by his side. So close, he could see himself in your eyes.

Salauddin wasnt vain enough to admit it to himself- he had feelings for you. But what were they?

Lust? Not really, he's seen far prettier women than you. Beauty... is subjective and Salauddin is a firm believer in "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Admiration? No. He admires your intelligence and your wit but Salauddin also has those qualities.

Infatuation? Sure he does think about you often during the day but not enough to call it obsession.

No, its love. It has to be. His heart doesnt know what exactly it is about you that draws him in. His mind doesnt comprehend why he feels like you belong with him but his soul, every fibre of his being screams that you do.

Allah has created someone for someone. He created Eve for Adam, He creates a woman from the rib of the man.

Salauddin touches the side of his chest, just above his abdomen.

Perhaps you're his missing rib.

You were smart, you were daring, you were also stupid enough to put yourself in harms way but it was... endearing. More importantly, you were the only person who could bicker with him, stand your ground against him and get away with it too.

He sat down on a chair, looking out at the pyramids. Like the man he's named after (Prophet Yusuf/Joseph), Salauddin believes in dreams having meaning. Perhaps its a way for God to talk to you, to warn you or guide you.

And from all his dreams about you, he's come to interpret it that he must save you from Baldwin... and everyone else. And he can save you- he can save you without you having to go through the trouble to be plotting against Baldwin and endangering yourself by working with Guy.

He could marry you.

If you were to marry Salauddin, you would become the queen of Egypt and the wife of the strongest Muslim leader of the time. Not only that but the entire ummah, Muslims around the world will come together as one to fight against Baldwin, against anyone who dares to harm you. You would be safe, you would be secure by his side as his wife.

But the plan is easier said than done.

Baldwin wouldnt backdown so easily. He would wreak havoc and if he's as obsessed with you as Salauddin has seen him, then he wouldnt stop at nothing to get you back. Baldwin will have to be dead for you to be safe from him.

Besides Baldwin, you yourself also are a hurdle. You havent shown any interest in him (which is understandable because you're engaged) but he doubts you're interested in marrying anyone at all. You're not one to be affected his wealth or status, you dont go for materialistic things. He's sure if he were to ask your hand, you would laugh hysterically and then maybe try mocking him. And Salauddin does not want to force you to marry him. He wants you to want him.

There is a way he could convince you. All he has to do is make himself look better than any man, especially Baldwin because you do seem to have a soft spot for him despite trying to sabotage him.

A sinister idea comes to mind.

What if Baldwin breaks up with you?

If Baldwin, for any reason, decides not to marry you then not only will you be free from him but a war will be avoided.

All Salauddin has to do is give Baldwin a reason to break up with you. He could send some concubines to him, but he doubts Baldwin would use them. And even if he did, it isnt reason enough for him to call off things with you. No, the only way Baldwin would break up with you is... if you're unfaithful to him. You dont need to cheat, dont need to sleep with any man. No, you dont have to do anything at all. All he has to do is make sure you're in the right place at the right time and Baldwin's there too, just enough to create doubt in his mind. And the ball will roll from there. Baldwin will continue to second guess your loyalty to him until he's driven himself insane. Then he'd leave you without ever punishing you for a crime he thinks you committed but has no proof of. Thats when Salauddin will swoop in as your knight in shining armour and you'll see that all men but him are shit and you'll say yes to his proposal-

No.

He sighed, rubbing his temples. Despite it being a perfect plan, the safest plan- Salauddin cant bare to stain your character. He cannot spread a rumor about you being unfaithful. He cannot have anyone talk badly of you, even if it will end up with you in his arms. You're important to him. And if you ever figure out that Salauddin was the one behind it all, you'd never forgive him. You would never trust him.

The thought of you not trusting him, just like you dont trust him enough to tell him why you sneaked out of the palace, it hurts him. He doesnt know why but he wants you to trust him- trust him enough that you come to him with your problems and have faith that he will solve them for you. He will keep you safe. He will protect you.

He will have to find another way.

Salauddin offered the morning prayer before reciting the Quran, asking Allah for guidance for his problems and good health for you.

He walked out of his room and turned to the corridor where your room was, only to find you sneaking out of the room with Isabelle. You were still wearing his white chaddar, and it engulfed your small body like a blanket as you hurriedly walked down-

You tripped on the bottom of the long chaddar and fell face first.

"Princess!" Isabelle cried out as she helped you up, but you quickly dusted yourself off and continued talking her ear off as if nothing had happened, the tail of the chaddar trailing behind you as Isabelle walked beside you to keep up with what you were saying.

"Idiot..." He whispered to himself, though he was smiling. He called a servant and ordered him to bring the finest chaddars and niqaabs for you. He cant have you tripping all over the place because you wear his chaddar that was too big for you, despite how adorable you looked in it.

You knocked on his door.

"Salauddin, I was going to the market-"

"And you came to ask for permission? Okay, granted." He waved you off with a smirk.

You rolled your eyes. "Where do you get the audacity- nevermind. I came to ask if you'd lend me a few gold coins? I need to buy some things, souvenirs if you will." You had lost your coin purse in the desert and you need to pay Abbas.

He raised a brow. "What do you need? I can have it brought to you here."

You pursed your lips. Why is he being difficult? "I dont know what I need until I look. Just give me some money, I promise to pay you back as soon as I can."

He stood up, walking upto you but you neither backed away nor moved your eyes from him. "Its not about the money." He pulled out a pouch and dropped it in your hands. "I worry for your safety. Who knows how many others Guy has hired to kill you? I'm coming along."

"Aww, you're worried about me? That's so sweet-"

"I wouldnt want my image to tarnish because a guest died in my care." Your smile dropped as you grumbled something under your breath.

"Whatever. I still dont need you to tag along-"

"Good thing about being the sultan is that I dont need anyone's permission." He cut you off before walking past you. You stomped after him. "Salauddin, dont you have work-"

"You can either come with me or stay in your room for the rest of your stay here." He stated.

"What?" He heard you snicker beside him. Your eyes twinkled with amusement. "Oh, its just these rags suit you a lot." Salauddin and his guards had worn disguises to blend in with the commoners. He didnt want to draw attention to you two.

He rolled his eyes. "I have to blend in for your safety-" "I have never looked more in danger than I do right now. Look around and see people staring at a lady dressed so modestly is surrounded by brooding men wearing rags." You giggled as Salauddin looked around to see some people were indeed looking your way.

You stopped at a small stall that was selling some jewellery. You were looking at some rings, trying to choose something for Sibylla. The shopkeeper, an old man must've seen Salauddin standing over your shoulder looking around for any suspicious men.

"Son, why dont you help your wife pick something? Focus on her!" The shopkeeper said, catching you both off guard. You looked at Salauddin and laughed at his surprised face. Continuing to pull his leg, you stared up at him and batted your lashes. "Well, husband? What do you think would suit me?" You asked raising two different earrings to your face. One had a ruby in it, the other had sapphire.

He looked at you for a moment.

"Neither."

Your smile underneath your veil vanished, and you placed the earrings back on the table.

"The blue opal ones." He nodded his head as the shopkeeper handed him the tear drop gold earrings that had the precious stones fixed in it. He brought the earrings near your face, never touching it as his eyes assessed his pick.

"They bring out your eyes." He said before paying the old man and giving them to you, all while you were looking at him in awe.

"Wait! Why did you pay? I had the money." You two had begun walking again. "You mean the money I gave you?" You frowned. "I'm gonna pay you back." He smiled. "You dont need to. I have enough. As for the earrings... consider them a gift."

"Gift?"

He hummed, his chest puffed up. "Part of the hospitality of the sultan."

You glared at him before smiling. "Thanks." You two continued to walk around the market, Salauddin gave alms to the poor he encountered. You were standing at another stall, watching in fascination as the man ground up the black powder and mixed it with oils to make kohl. He filled it up in a beautiful vessel before asking if you'd like to try it.

"Oh, I dont know how to." Especially not without a mirror, which the man didnt have. But he was persistent to sell his product and when he looked at Salauddin's kohl lined eyes, he offered it to him.

"Would you apply it on your wife?" This time, Salauddin didnt react like he did the earlier when he was associated with you. He took the wooden stick dipped in the kohl and looked at you for permission.

You gave a nod. He walked upto you, gently cupping your veil covered face. You thanked God for the niqaab, or else he would've seen how violently you were blushing.

"Chin up." He whispered before tilting your chin up. Your eyes shifted as they stared into his brown ones. "Open wide." He ordered, even though your eyes were already saucer shaped from the close proximity.

He began tracing the soft edge of the stick along the waterline of your right eye. He seemed to have noticed that you were holding your breath. "Relax." He softly commanded, patting your cheek with his thumb. That broke you out of your trance as you narrowed your eyes at him.

"Dont tell me what to do." You grumbled. "Open wide." He ordered again bringing the stick up to your left eye for a second coat. You hated the way he commanded you, hated that he seemed to be having his fun with this.

"Dont order-"

"If you dont listen to me, I will marry you today." Your eyes blew wide open in shock.

"What-?!"

"Hush." He smiled placing kohl on your now wide eyes. "Whats wrong? You seemed to enjoy playing my wife but when I joke to marry you, you dont like it."

He's... joking?

Without realising, you blinked causing the still wet kohl to spread in your eyes. Salauddin had pulled the stick back just in time to not poke your eye out.

You hissed in pain, raising your hand to rub your eyes but Salauddin caught your wrist pushing it down.

"Open your eyes, Y/n. Look at me. I said- look at me." You opened your eyes to stare at him, your vision blurry from the mixture of tears and kohl.

Salauddin grabbed his handkerchief and began to dab the excess away as he tutted at you to stay still. Once he was done wiping the excess away, he blew cold air on your irritated eyes gently.

"I swear... if you dont sit still, I really will marry you today." He threatened you as he watched your red eyes glare at him. He didnt like that you were in pain, even if your own stupidity was the cause of it. This time when he applied kohl, you didnt dare to move an inch.

Fortunately, he worked faster this time around.

He gave a nod of approval when he was done. You dont know whether it was because he liked how your eyes looked now or if he was admiring his own work.

Salauddin handed the man money before taking a few bottles of kohl.

For the next hour, you two walked around in silence mostly. The image of your kohl lined eyes occupied his mind, not only because of how beautiful they were but also all the emotions that switched in a matter of seconds. You could try and hide your feelings all you want but your eyes tell. The eyes... they're the window to one's soul.

He saw attraction, anger, mesmerisation, disgust and pain in your eyes. Or maybe he's overthinking this. Maybe it was all just momentary and you really do hate the idea of being married to him.

You were both standing at yet another shop, this one was selling dates. Salauddin walked inside the shop a little more to inspect the quality of the dates, expecting you to be following behind him but when he turned around, you were gone. He walked outside the shop, hoping to find you there but it seemed like you had vanished. Even his guards hadnt seen you.

And then, as Salauddin whipped his head around, he saw the silloutte of your chadar disappearing around the corner. He ran after you, hoping to not lose you in the crowd but as soon as he turned around the corner, he couldnt spot you anywhere. He ran down the street, looking left and right but you werent there.

Where are you, Y/n?

He began walking back towards the main street when in the corner of his eye, he caught the sight of a familiar chadar. He turned his head to the right and there you were, standing with your back to him under the shadow of the large canopy of the shop talking to some man.

He walked up behind you, the man you were talking to seeing him first.

"Y/n." He snapped. You turned startled before your shoulders relaxed at the sight of him. "Oh, its just you. Did you buy the dates?"

Dates? You're asking him about dates after you just made his heart stop for a few minutes?

"Why did you leave me?" Ya Allah, that came out way more desperate than he wanted it to.

"I was getting something from this man." He raised a brow, almost as if he didnt believe you. You sighed. "This is Abbas. I hired him to make some things for me?"

"Such as?" You narrowed your eyes at his accusatory tone before nodding at Abbas, who then pulled out a heaxagonal shaped board that looked somewhat similar to a-

"Its 3 people chess!" You exclaimed, bouncing on your feet as you handed it to Salauddin. "I designed it and had Abbas make it for you!"

"For me?" He asked, turning the board around as he tried to understand how it would work.

"Yeah. I wanted to thank you for saving my life. And for your hospitality. And for lending me money."

His eyes softened slightly. "You dont need to thank me, Y/n. Its... my duty. I'm responsible for you." You waved him off. "Yeah yeah. Look, just take this and I'll teach you how to play so that one day you could play it with your wife and... kid? Or maybe with your wife and Baldwin? Or two wives-?"

"Y/n, I appreciate the gift but I would appreciate your silence more now." You pouted at his words but never the less, you both left to return to the palace, unaware of the eyes watching you two.

The mysterious figure wrote down what he'd seen before using messenger eagle to deliver the note to Jerusalem.

It had almost been a week in Egypt. You and Salauddin were having lunch together when a guard came to him and whispered something in his ear, the sultan frowning.

"Whats wrong?" You asked him.

He looked at you. "Baldwin... he's coming to Egypt."

"What? When?"

"He's crossed the desert. He should be getting here today, in a few hours." Salauddin was still frowning. Why is Baldwin coming to Egypt?

You shook your head. "Baldwin wouldnt ever leave Jerusalem, not unless..." Your eyes widened at the realisation.

"He's coming for a war." Salauddin confirmed.

Fuck.

Part 7 is here!

#yandere baldwin #yandere salauddin #baldwin iv #the leper king #king baldwin iv #salauddin #time traveller au #male yandere x reader #yandere x darling #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere x y/n

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nebulablakemurphy · 1 year

Text

Moves & Countermoves (Part 20)

Summary: No one ever wins the games, even fourteen years later, Y/N is still playing.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

“Soldier Abernathy,” Boggs’ voice is the one to finally break them apart.

Y/N moves to her feet, straightening out her gear. “Yes.”

“Civilian Abernathy.” Boggs also acknowledges the man on the floor.

“Yep.” Haymitch groans, pulling himself up.

“There’s been an incident.” Boggs squares his shoulders.

“What kind of incident?”

“Peeta attacked Katniss.”

“He what?” Y/N stammers.

“Our Peeta?” Haymitch is getting older, surely he’s heard wrong.

Boggs nods. “Follow me-”

Without another word, Boggs ushers them to Katniss’ room in medical. She is limp on the bed, being changed into a hospital gown. She looks the same as she had when Haymitch left her, save for the large angry bruise, blooming over the expanse of her neck.

“Damn it,” Haymitch murmurs.

“How could this happen?” Y/N turns to Boggs.

“I stepped outside to give them privacy. When I heard the commotion, I went straight in. He’d already put her through the medicine cabinets and had her on the floor. It happened fast.”

Y/N brings a hand to her throbbing temple. “Thank you for…” Y/N breaks off. “I should’ve stayed with him.”

“Not your fault, soldier.” Boggs says, immediately.

Haymitch passes a hand over her back. See, you stubborn thing? Not everything can be your fault.

“I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.” Boggs excuses himself.

The doctors trickle out, leaving Katniss in her neck brace, hooked up to a bunch of beeping monitors.

“She’ll be out for a while, by the sound of it. We should check on Peeta. Try to figure out what the hell’s going on.” Haymitch kisses Y/N’s temple. Watching his wife stroke dark hair away from Katniss’ face.

Y/N nods.

Peeta’s room is not much better. He is restrained, for his own safety. Unconscious after the attack, Boggs had to get him off somehow.

The results of the bloodwork returns without traces of any hallucinogenic drugs. The only abnormal thing found in his system is trackerjacker venom.

“So what does this mean? He thought Katniss was someone else?” Haymitch asks Dr. Aurelius, who’s come to deliver the news. He’s not a regular doctor, he’s a head doctor. Maybe he’s here to make sure they don’t lose their shit?

“Well…it’s hard to say. I’ll need to speak with him once he regains consciousness. For now, it seems a bit odd that he would remember Y/N in the hovercraft and in this room, only to not recognize Katniss a moment later.”

There must be something…something she’s missing. “So you think he knew it was Katniss and did that to her anyway?”

“I understand how difficult this may be for you to hear, but Peeta did attack Katniss with the intent to kill her.” Dr. Aurelius explains.

Haymitch shifts, meeting Y/N’s eyes.

“That’s why he’s restrained?” Y/N presses her lips together.

“This is for his own safety.“

“I don’t understand.” Y/N cuts him off. “He held my hand all the way home.” There’s just no way. “Peeta wouldn’t do that to Katniss.”

“I know it is painful for you to see them this way. But given your experience on the hovercraft, I have every reason to believe that we can help him work through this.”

“How?” Haymitch wonders.

“With the knowledge that he recognizes Y/N, we will be able to use a trusted source to sift through the information fed to him by the Capitol. In theory we will be able to reverse this fear conditioning.” Dr. Aurelius is already working up a plan.

“So that’s what you think this is? A response to fear conditioning?” Haymitch asks.

“He has lacerations, old and new. Evidence of shocks and beatings, that with the presence of trackerjacker venom suggests what one would consider brainwashing. A hijacking, if you will.”

“Have you ever treated a patient in his condition?” Y/N gnaws at the insides of her cheek.

“I have never seen anything like this, no.”

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Y/N says, immediately.

“For now there is nothing to be done. Katniss and Peeta are resting, which they both desperately need. I might suggest you do the same.”

“If it were your kids, could you rest?” Haymitch bites out, bitterly.

Aurelius nods, in understanding. “No.” He stares for a moment more. “As Peeta’s family is deceased, you are his next of kin. You will be involved in making medical decisions. If anything changes you will be the first to know.”

“Thank you.”

“There is one more thing, before you go.”

“And what might that be?” Haymitch retorts.

“Johanna Mason has requested that you also be listed as next of kin, until she is found to be of sound mind.”

“What about Finnick?” Y/N wonders, they’ve always been close.

“Finnick struggled during separation with Annie.”From what Aurelius can see, he’s still struggling. “He is in no position to make decisions about her medical care. Rather her be a ward of the district, she would have you.”

“Of course, we’ll take her.”

————————————————————————

Pollux is with Madge, when they return to the children, keeping all three entertained. There’s someone else, perched in the corner, quiet, just watching.

“Mom?” Y/N says, warily. She’s only seen her once since they’ve been here. The older woman was deep into detox and screamed at her to get out.

“Hi, honey.” As if nothing has happened. As if nothing is wrong.

“Mommy, look what we made for Peeta!” Arista holds up the off white paper banner, lined with drawings and colored flowers.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Y/N chokes down her despair. How can I explain this? “It’s beautiful, he’ll love it.”

“You’re sad,” Everest calls her bluff.

Haymitch steps closer, saving her, the way he always has. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Is it Peeta?”

“Yeah,” Haymitch breathes, perching himself at the end of Everest’s bed. “Come here.” He pats the space on either side for his children. I’ll take this one.

Y/N follows her mother out into the hallway.

“How are you holding up?” The older woman asks.

“I’m ok.”

“Good.”

“So you’re out of rehab?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, yes.”

“You look really…healthy.”

“Y/N I saw Finnick’s broadcast and I- I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. That I couldn’t protect you. I know I wasn’t the best mother-”

“You did the best you could,” Y/N cuts her off. “As a mother, I understand that we can’t always be there the way we want to.”

“But you are there. Everyday and every night, you are there for those kids. They know that no matter what, their mom is coming home. They know that you will always be there. I’m sorry you didn’t have that.”

“It’s ok…I’m-” Y/N wraps her arms tightly around herself. “I’m ok.”

“When I lost Maysi, I lost myself. I tried to get it back, to get a grip, to keep pushing but I couldn’t. When you got reaped,” she breaks off. “When I saw my baby girl get taken from me I- I mourned you. I mourned you the second you got on that train and I never stopped mourning you. But you weren’t dead, you were alive and my mind, especially with the morphling, couldn’t comprehend that.”

“Mom, please, stop.”

“I know you must be angry with me.” Her mother tugs at Y/N’s hand. “But I need you to know that didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve any of this, you are so good. You are good and you are brave and you are strong. Better than I ever was or could be. And I’m going to be here for you now, if you’ll let me.”

Y/N nods, silently, brushing away tears. “Thank you.”

————————————————————————

The guilt grows, festering like a wound. Guilt over the strain on their marriage, guilt for their absence from their children. Guilt for Katniss, neck braced, in a coma. Guilt for Peeta, restrained, turned into a weapon meant to kill the only girl he’s ever loved. Guilt for Johanna, tortured and stripped of her dignity. Guilt for Cashmere, who lost her brother. Guilt for Madge who takes on so much burden that is not her own.

“He’s been asking for you.” One of the doctors from Peeta’s team catches Y/N in the hallway.

The voice is enough to snap Y/N back to the task at hand. Haymitch is with Katniss, such is their agreement, until Peeta feels more at ease in the presence of others. Triggering him is not worth the risk.

Through the observation window, she can see him struggling, tugging at the bonds. Two doctors are beside him, attempting to soothe him. Y/N enters the room without hesitation, fighting her way into his line of vision.

“Peeta.” She says softly, moving towards him.

His thrashing does not stop, but he registers that she is there.

“Can we clear the room?” Y/N asks.

“Of course.” The doctors nod, they too are at a loss.

Peeta’s breathing is so shallow and rapid, she fears he might be hyperventilating. His eyes searching her sadly, warily. “I thought you didn’t want to see me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Don’t you know what I did?”

Katniss. “I’m not upset with you, Peeta. I just want to help you.”

“You don’t know what it was like.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

“But Snow did stuff to you too, didn’t he?”

“Nothing like this,” Y/N swallows the lump in her throat. “I brought you something, from the kids; my kids.”

“I remember…” Almost. Memories dancing near the surface of a frozen lake.

“They made you this,” Y/N unrolls the slightly crumpled paper. “Sorry I smushed it.”

Peeta’s eyes well up with tears. “Can I keep it?”

“Yeah, of course, we’ll find somewhere to hang it up.”

————————————————————————

“My colleague, Dr. Maes, informed me that the two of you had a rather…colorful conversation, at the bed side of her patient, Johanna Mason.” Dr. Aurelius says, during his later session with Y/N.

“She’s not a good fit for Johanna,” Y/N explains. “I’d rather you see her.”

“I couldn’t possibly take on Peeta, Katniss, Johanna, Haymitch and yourself.” Aurelius explains, “given her condition-”

“Take me off the list.”

“Are you sure that’s the best decision?”

“It’s the only option I have.” Y/N crosses one leg over the other.

“Tell me why.”

“What?”

“Tell me why that’s the only option and I’ll consider it.”

Y/N takes a steadying breath. “You’re the best they’ve got down here and we both know it. This isn’t about being a lost cause, or a martyr. It’s about people needing you more than I do.”

Dr. Aurelius sighs, “I’m sure Haymitch will follow your lead.”

“I didn’t mention it to him yet.” The longing pangs in her chest.

When she does tell Haymitch, later that night, he’s half asleep.

“Whatever you want, Angel.” He murmurs, pulling her closer.

They’ve hardly seen each other. She feels the strain on his heart, tugging at her own. Y/N fists a hand in his shirt. “You’re what I want.” More time with you.

“You have me by the balls,” he scoffs, “Stop torturing yourself. Everyone has to pay the piper and revolutions don’t come cheap. If we have to keep going like this; for however long, we’ll do that.”

“This is enough for you? Five minutes to ourselves before bed, after being apart all day?”

“You’re enough.” Haymitch breathes, “you’ll always be enough.”

Just you and me.

————————————————————————

Katniss wakes a day later, clawing at the brace around her neck and breathing hard. The monitors surrounding her beep frantically as Boggs tries to calm her.

“Hey, Katniss. You’re alright.”

Her hands move back to the brace.

“Don’t, you’re swollen.” Boggs stills her fingers.

Katniss leans back in defeat, her voice is but a broken whisper. “Peeta.”

Part 21

Series Taglist: @praline357 @flowercrowns-goodvibes @justheretoparty420 @avocadotoastwithegg @treehouse-mouse @emo-markie @spilled-mi1k @magical-spit @greaser9902 @jessicamellarky @yourebuckingkiddingme @smuha2004 @sendhelplease @ninimackbrews @wittiestrain184 @r1dd1kulus @erenluvr69 @helpimhyperfixating @jackierose902109 @jellybear455 @dreammgc @dadbodfanatic-x @ftdtcmlovr @inky-sun @ms-brek-ker @undercover55655 @mischiefmanaged21 @avoxrising @koiphisch @drwho-ess @daisydaisybilly @misfits1a

#moves & countermoves #haymitch abernathy fanfic #haymitch abernathy x reader #haymitch abernathy #haymitch abernathy x y/n #haymitch x reader #haymitch abernathy x you #haymitch fanfic #haymitch x y/n #thg haymitch #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark

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thereal-true-ogilvie · 1 year

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hello everyone welcome to i talk about benrey for a minute here

as someone who’s watched the entirety of hlvrai at least 6 times, the full vods at least 3, and the cast commentary hovering somewhere around 10, i consider myself to be pretty well-versed in the series. i also kin benrey. this is probably important to my perception of him.

the series is about self-aware AI. its in the title! so it seems obvious enough to me that Benrey was programmed to be the final boss. he was SUPPOSED to be a silly character that antagonizes the protag and throws off the group dynamic, and then it’s a big reveal and you get to beat up this guy that was mean to you!

but he doesnt wanna. hes self aware.

Of all the characters, i think Bubby and Tommy are the most “powerful” in that they were able to break their characters the most. Tommy is a bit of a wild card because he doesn’t usually act like an AI. I view him as the “character you’re supposed to protect” in the party, but somewhere along the way he, too, became self-aware and figured out how to handle his own. I think that’s where the age thing comes in. He was programmed to be a 5-year-old that you’re trying to get out of this dangerous facility! but he didn’t want to be a 5-year-old, he’s smarter than that, he’s capable! so he changed it. Him being the son of Gman also probably helped with him being able to just do that.

I take Bubby and Dr. Coomer as both being tutorial characters. Dr. Coomer is a bit broken, but he still does his best to teach you about things. I think he’s the tutorial NPC that goes “watch out for [x]” and “we can use ropes to cross big pits!” and “we should call them Peeper Puppies!” while Bubby was supposed to be the “here’s how you shoot a gun”

Like, Dr. Coomer does the knowledge about the world, and Bubby does the action. for the video game. And Bubby is supposed to be kinda cold to you, because the action-tutorial NPCs tend to be. Like “what you cant even hold your own? tch, guess ill have to teach you.” But Bubby doesn’t do that. He doesn’t WANT to play the game, he wants to go back home. He liked it before the game was switched on. So he doesn’t teach Gordon shit and just tries to speedrun so the player will leave and he can go back home.

one little scene that stood out to me so much was when the crew is sitting around in a circle with the pigeons. not outside, the other scene with them sitting in a circle and there’s pigeons. why are there 2 of those.

anyways, Benrey is just staring at this pigeon behind Gordon, and singing to it, calmly. And then there’s a loud beep that sounds like the vox, and definitely doesnt come from Benrey. and he suddenly gets up and shoots the pigeon. That reads SO HARD like he was being too soft with the game world, so it pushed him to do something evil randomly. Like a little villain reboot.

Almost everything he does to antagonize Gordon can be read as genuine confusion. He kills random NPCs because he knows theyre not important, and that they can’t feel anything, and that they’ll only slow the team’s progress. And what makes Gordon so mad at him is how often Benrey says Gordon shouldnt be allowed in here. I take that as a similar stance to Bubby. Benrey doesn’t want to be the villain. He doesn’t want the player to progress and make him. That gets more obvious the closer we get to the end, and most people tend to notice it in the last scenes before Xen, where he’s suggesting they go all the way back, and basically begging the player to stop here, at least for a little while.

its really sad, honestly. but i take the cast commentary bits as canon. Which makes it adorable when Benrey comes back into the movie theatre with Gordon and we get

“I wonder what will happen. I bet you know what happens!”

“I win!!!”

He did win. He got to get past being the final boss. He got to join the epilogue. I think, he probably wasn’t supposed to be able to. But these guys broke the game enough that he could. Isn’t that sweet? Isn’t that a nice ending for him? I think he deserves it.

Wayne says he acts like “he isn’t aware unless he’s being spoken to” and I think that fits really well. Like, sometimes his actions are coded into his behavior, so he does them without realizing. And then the player interacting with him (which is the premise of the self-awareness) forces him to actually look at what he did, and sometimes he has no idea how to explain it. Leading to his “huh?”

listen to me. are you listening. i need you to hear this. i need more people to understand benrey. and how much i love him. hes trapped in the narrative, doomed by it to be the villain. but he doesn’t want to be. he clearly cares about the crew in his own silly goofy way. he doesn’t want to fight them. i wrote down everything he said in the finale, and he only says 5 outright malicious lines, all of which are directly after an unnatural pause, like he’s being rebooted again. Some important lines: “I knew this was gonna happen,”

“Stop shooting at me, I have to shoot back, I don’t wanna do that,”

“I didn’t have a big plan, I was supposed to be nice, but you forced me to be BAD so I’m gonna be BAD… friend.” the small, quiet “friend” there gets me every time. even after everything, even after his nature is revealed, he wants to believe theyre still friends.

“Don’t go in there, please… I don’t like that room." The amount of times he sounds so genuinely sad when asking them to stop, or even just saying “bro..” like he’s mourning the friendship they could’ve had. The amount of times he sounds genuinely pained when he’s glitching out and stretching across the screen.

And his last words, said childishly of course, but,

“This isn’t fair.”

#god i love character analysis #benrey #hlvrai #dr coomer #bubby #tommy coolatta

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autisticshadowthehedgehog · 5 months

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Knuckles Arc Anon here for the third and final time, there's a few lore decisions that I just remembered that confuse me.

1.Pachamac's character being completely different. I'm aware Sonic and friends are slightly different than their game versions but there's still the essence of them. Like Sonic still keeps his basic core concept of being a representation of the average teen/kid for example and extreme oversimplication. But Pachamac, I have no problems with Knuckles not being related to him or Pachamac not being from thousands of years in the past. My issue is him being a completely different character especially with the context of movie 2.

Like in the games Pachamac is a bloodthirsty asshole who's desire for power led to the destruction of his empire, unleashing an ancient god, and eventually the extinction of all Echidna. Which knowing the lore in movie 2 would be perfect and easy to adapt (u could ignore Chaos for now)

Why is he chill? It's not even hinted at that he died with regrets and wished he made the right decisions in life to explain this massive change in personality. Personally my theory was while watching is that Pachamac was slowly going to be revealed as being a terrible person who would try to force Knuckles to stick in his warrior mindset.

2. Knuckles who was probably a child or preteen being able to kill or seal Iblis... I'm sorry what? Unless Solaris being split apart just instantly lowered the power levels even more in the movieverse this completely fucks with the power scaling. And normally I don't care about this but this is beyond suspension of disbelief. Like yeah the Echidna tribe warred with the owls since they got the Master Emerald but Knuckles didn't even have the Emerald or all the necessary combat training at like 6? Also Knuckles didn't even use his fire powers in Movie 2 but I think we are left to assume it was part of his quest to get the Master Emerald but we are shown he didn't eve need it.

3. Knuckles was gone at minimum for a few days and Maddie calls him her kid. Why is she not blowing up Wade's phone looking for her kid? Set up suggests him being grounded would come back around but guess not?

i dont think i got ur second ask but yeah. I DO feel like SOMETHING's being set up with Pachacamac, considering they made him specifically the bitch who shot Longclaw in the 2020 movie. I don't think they completely forgot his personality but they were setting something off that either didn't get paid off or hasn't been paid off yet.

Another thing I would have really liked from this series would've been more acknowledgement that Knuckles is a child. He's about 15 when this series takes place. He shouldn't be thinking like this, Sonic's right he should be playing video games and reading comic books. Once again I feel like the first ep was setting that shit up and then they just. Forgot.

but anyway that's enough negativity lmao i just woke up with some awful cramps so im gonna watch the second movie til i pass out

#knuckles spoilers

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blueesnow · 3 months

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(3/6) Ootori Eiji's Private Story [Utapri Live Emotion]

Ch 1: (unlocked if you reached intimacy lvl 6 with Eiji)

-Park- Haruka: (That's strange… I'm sure I heard that the location where they were shooting a movie today was supposed to be around here…) Eiji: Eh, are you possibly…Nanami-san? Oh, it's indeed you. Haruka: Eiji-kun…! I'm so glad that I meet with one of the cast members. You see… I'm actually lost right now. Eiji: I see. Then again today's location is a bit secluded so I don't blame you. Eiji: I'm just on my way to go back after having a quick break. If you don't mind shall we go together? Haruka: Really? Thank you so much, you really help me out. Eiji: You're welcome. By the way I've heard the news. You're the one who will be in charge for the soundtracks of this movie right, Nanami-san? Haruka: Ah, yes. As an assistant of my senior composer*, I was given an opportunity to work on this movie. Haruka: It's also the work from this recently popular director too. To be honest I'm feeling so much pressure just working on it… Eiji: It was the same for me too. Although I was happy when I heard the news, sometimes I can't help but wonder if I'm really the right person for the role. Eiji: The original work for this movie was known as a best-selling novel, its story was refreshing, and the role that I'm playing is the love rival which is quite an important role. Eiji: Ever since the filming began, I've been feeling nervous while making sure that I'm not making trouble for everyone. Eiji: But…since I've already accepted the job, I have no choice but to do my best. I must fulfill the expectations of the director who picked me after all. Haruka: Eiji-kun…that was such a wonderful way of thinking. I'll make sure to support you! Eiji: Thank you. It's very reassuring to know that there's people watching over you. Let's work hard together shall we.

*: I'm not sure how to translate the 作曲家先生 to be honest. I remember he did appear from the ori game, where Haruchan finally got accepted into Shining Agency, but as she was a newbie she was appointed to be working under this 作曲家先生 first before she accept any real job offers from other clients, you could say that she's interning(?) under his care while learning how to work around the field. Anyway he's not exactly a teacher as he's one of the composer in Shining Agency but you could say that he's Haruchan's... senpai in a way(?)

Ch 2: (unlocked if you reached intimacy lvl 11 with Eiji)

-Park- Haruka: (Looks like Eiji-kun's scene will come out soon. He keeps having quite a lively discussion with the director.) Eiji: About this line… I understand, I'll try to be aware for the timing. I'm looking forward to be working with you. Eiji: "…I love you. So much that I can't help it." Eiji: "This feeling of mine won't lose to anyone. I'd promise that I will treasure you. That's why…rather than him, I want you to choose me instead." Haruka: ( …Wow. His expression and his voice…all of them perfectly capture all of his feelings. Even though I know it's all just acting it still made my heart beats…) Eiji: "Ah… did your mind slightly waver just now? Of course I noticed, I mean I've been watching you all this time." Eiji: "As long as there is a possibilty no matter how little they are, I won't give up. I'll definitely make you fall in love with me so…be prepared." - Eiji: …Phew. Thank you very much. Haruka: …Eiji-kun, good job! My eyes can't take their eyes off of you. (choices) <I was moved with the gap of your acting!> Haruka: Your face at that time looks so much more different than the usual Eiji-kun. Anyway I was moved with the gap of your acting! Eiji: Oh no, you're exaggerating. But…it was something I tried to do consciously, so I'm glad you noticed that. Eiji: Being able to become someone else is one of the charms of acting itself. <You're shining brightly> Haruka: Just watching you make my heart beats… Eiji-kun, you're shining so brightly. Eiji: T-That much!? Compared to all of my co-stars, I still have a long way to go. I'm always overwhelmed by their actings during our shooting. Eiji: But knowing you complimented me just now must means that I'm a little bit closer than before. Thank you. (back to story) Eiji: Wait, Nanami-san, what's wrong with your finger? Don't tell me you're hurt…? Haruka: Oh, you're right. I probably accidentally cut myself when I was trying to take a note. Eiji: Although it's just a small wound, it might turn worse if you didn't properly treat it. Please wait here for a moment, I'll be back soon.

Ch 3: (unlocked if you reached intimacy lvl 21 with Eiji)

-Park- Eiji: Sorry for making you wait so long. Here's a band-aid. I think it'd be much better if you put one just in case. Haruka: Thank you so much. I'm sorry for the trouble. Eiji: Don't worry about it. Maybe I'm worrying too much, but it'll be too late if anything happens to you. Haruka: I'll be more careful from now on… But still, it's amazing that you can quickly find a band-aid this fast. Eiji: I-Is that so? I usually carry a first aid kit with me. Though people do sometimes say that I'm quite a worrier. Eiji: But, there are lot of times when I'm glad that I have it with me. Since I also tends to get hurt too sometimes. Eiji: Just like for today, I might be of help to someone else too. This kind of thing really made me happy. Eiji: Especially to everyone in HE★VENS, I want them to always stay healthy and be in their best possible condition. At the very least, this is the only thing that I can do. Haruka: That's not true…! I don't think Eiji-kun's attentiveness is something that everyone else can do. Haruka: And you're also very good at acting too. Seeing you in action really cheered me up and it made me want to try even more harder with my work. Eiji: Really? …Although I'm a bit embarrassed, I'm glad that I might be of help to you even if it's just a little bit. Haruka: (Eiji-kun is really such a kind person. To think that he'd be so considerate and caring to me.) Eiji: Oh…it looks like it's almost time for the next shoot. Actually, after this I have a special appearance later with a big-name actor. Eiji: I've been nervous since this morning, but hearing your encouragements made me feel like I can really do my best now. Eiji: No, I need to be more greedy and make sure it'll turn out to be a great scene. Well then, I'll be going now.

Ch 4: (unlocked if you reached intimacy lvl 31 with Eiji)

Ch 5: (unlocked if you reached intimacy lvl 41 with Eiji)

Ch 6: (unlocked if you reached intimacy lvl 51 with Eiji)

#utapri #live emotion #Ootori Eiji #it'll be one chapter for now #i'll be updating this as soon as i unlock another chapter #please correct me if my wording somehow not understandable as im not that fluent on both jp/en #so for Eiichi is “Eiichi-san” while Eiji is “Eiji-kun” hmm...#I wish they let us know heaven's member age info www

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katyspersonal · 3 months

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Today's SOTE adventures.. The gist of it is that I've failed one questline but finally got to the other!

1) So I decided to proceed with Ymir quest and go to the next Finger Ruins! But first things first, I followed into a meteorite crater looking place. Excepted the Fallingstar Beast there of course x) It dropped a sorcery, wasn't hard.

2) There was a path full of Lamprey curled up and sleeping... with their eyes open... fair enough lol

3) So there were those really annoying Lamprey that were spamming the paralyzing sorcery same as what ringed Fingercreepers do, right? And not only they kept doing that, but also EVERY time one of two of them paralyzed me, instantly from somewhere ANOTHER Lamprey would jump out and bite me :/ :/ :/ I kept thinking they were jumping from the walls somewhere, until I saw a portal above and realized they were being summoned :/ :/ :/.

I noped out of that road and decided to find another way, very carefully hugging the walls of this location and killing enemies slowly one by one, to get to the bell safely! And I did do that! ....and then used my position to sneak on those assholes that kept spamming me with that spell and kill them too. XD There was no point at ALL in doing that, they were not guarding anything important, I deadass just felt like it :pensive: Yayyyy pointless cruelty XD

4) Speaking of pointless cruelty, @val-of-the-north IS A TREACHEROUS LITTLE DIPSHIT THAT IS NOT A FRIEND TO ME AGAIN!!!! AAAAAAAAA

OKAY SO I allowed him to take me by hand again and asked whether there was anything else to look for in this place! He mentioned that I could have picked a Spirit Ash in a hole in the location he marked for me on the map!!! So, since he delivered it in such a way as though it was just a casual nook to check on I went in unprepared...... AND THERE WAS THE LARGEST GODDAMN FUCKING FINGERCREEPER EVER AND I DIED

5) I was YELLING at Val for not having warned me at ALL about it and basically deceiving me!!! Like, a little heads up would not hurt when I TRUSTED my game experience to you! It'd be one thing if I naturally discovered the surprise enemy, but this time I LET YOU DIRECT ME!! AND THEN VAL BROUGHT UP THE FACT THAT BASICALLY HE WAS PATCHES IN THIS SITUATION AND IT WAS SO HYSTERICAL THAT I ACTUALLY LAUGHED AND FORGOT EVERYTHING VHJGGB

6) I did get that Spirit Ash though!

I simply dashed past that Fingercreeper and grabbed it on Torrent and hid in the cave way! .....only to return and kill this enemy anyway. It deserved it.

7) I went back to Ymir to talk to him! Instantly surprised at the wildest lore that Two Fingers themselves had a mother??

Also the map he gave me was REALLY obvious, I instantly knew the third place was right here! I didn't expect that though!

8) This time though, Val WARNED me to prepare for the battle. Instant character development? XD

9) He also pointed out that the grave Ymir is sitting at already was there before the previous Yuri died! I would not have remembered of course

I've seen the speculation that he must have had a real, human child at some point who died, and seeing how people who try to become fingers is part of lore maybe it's possible that he seeks to rebirth a person as a Fingercreeper!

I actually got that dialogue about him not being able to birth Yuri properly earlier, even before the second bell, and found the passageway down already but decided to go there later as I was sleepy. ...but the next time I played it was closed and he was back on his throne. XD I wondered whether I messed up, but turned out it was a good call that I didn't go there!

10) Also defeated some invader on the way and told Jolan about it

11) Okay, I got really surprised by the location I got teleported to!!! Underwater / water-themed space is always an automatic W for me, but also those weird 'tubes' above! What are they!!

12) I lasted long enough until second stage and then just started to frantically screenshot everything because of the cool visuals XD Also:

She uses these, apparently!

13) So... Yeah, I could not kill it, and I've been trying for a very long time. Jara can't save me for some time either. You see, the enemies I ABSOLUTELY suck at and am completely incapable of killing are Runesbears, Burial Watchdogs and giant Fingercreepers. So this boss is like a GIANT giant Fingercreeper gvfgfffgj I am already horrendously bad at playing Soulsborne games (just have to play so I can absorb all the lore efficiently), but with the type of enemy who both hits like tank and can't be effectively held at the distance I am especially helpless :/

14) That does make me wonder though. This place is called Manus Metyr, and Metyr is her name. In Ranni's secret location we find her in the place called Cathedral of Manus Celes, so what if Celes is actually the name of the fingers that grow there? 🤔 The pair assigned to her IS unique compared to everyone else's, after all?

15) So I just decided to end some loose business before going to bed. At first, I picked this armor that I didn't find the first time:

16) And another thing, I still haven't met Trina even though I wanted to back then and Jara helped me!! I needed to fix it!

17) I heard from the girls that you need to imbibe nectar several times, so I did! Her voice was so sweet ;-; Also noticed that even when you talk her lips still move xd

18) Something about Thiollier stung quite a bit.. No, the part where he calls us a liar and tells us that he'll "never forgive us" is understandable, as well as attacking, impulsivity and insecurities are human and all. As long as you get better, dude. It was the part about like, possessiveness, if you can call it that?

I was very close with the guy that refused to "share crushes" (all also were 'unattainable' for one reason or another, so comparable with worshipping the same deity) in an eerly similar fashion! More than that: we did have a problem where he was very desperate to see someone in his dreams just one more time at least, and yet unexplainabliy I was the one to be talked by that someone in my dreams... for which the guy I am talking about was really mad at.

This is just weirdly coincidental, but yes, the memories stung a bit. Hopefully the bitterness will go away.

19) Not sure what I am going to do next, there are probably a couple of locations I am yet to explore, and also Messmer. I guess I am also reluctant to get to the "important" parts because I am just having so much fun and don't want this DLC to end ;-; I hope that they'll get the hint regarding its success and add another one later, since they already had precedent of multiple DLCs for one game! Or would that be way TOO heavy for any platform to manage? Argh

#elden ring #elden ring dlc #sote spoilers #screenshots

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iam93percentstardust · 7 months

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*insert french laugh* Did someone say to send a prompt? Ahoy! Have no fear for I am here. How about stevetony kiss prompt with the dialogue "i think this is the part where you're supposed to kiss me"? Could Steve be the one to also say it? <3

naferty fren!!! yesss always happy to write steve for you <3

@soliloquent-stark also requested this prompt + "If you win, I'll kiss you" so I rolled y'all into one

Steve does follow his physical therapy plan religiously, and sure enough, by the time the next season—his final season, as a senior now—rolls around, he’s declared fit to play. And, fuck, does he play. Determined to prove himself even better after his recovery, to prove that Rollins couldn’t get him down, he leads his team to victory after victory and then to the playoffs and now to the championship.

Tony ducks into the locker room before the game, ignoring the good-natured wolf-whistles and catcalls from Steve’s teammates as he picks his way through the equipment littered across the room. It’s been an open secret for ages that Steve was seeing an omega, and after his injury last season, it became an open secret that Steve was specifically seeing Tony because he kept showing up to fuss over him, but none of them would ever turn him in. They have too much respect for their captain and quarterback, and anyway, most of them think the zero fraternization rules are just as ridiculous as they do.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Steve says, beaming at him. “How was your exam?”

Tony makes a face. He hadn’t flown over with the team yesterday, being required to take an exam for one of his courses—something about mechanics, which Steve had listened to all the ranting about, nodding sympathetically since that was about as much as he understood.

“That bad?” Steve asks.

Tony scowls. “No. It was boring. If you’re gonna make a big deal about this exam being the ‘hardest exam of the entire semester’—” he adopts a suitably dramatic tone for the quote—“then it should at least be difficult, right? I overstudied way too much for that thing. I don’t think it took me more than about ten minutes.”

“Maybe that’s just because you’re impressive.”

“Or maybe Dr. Kean’s not nearly as scary as she thinks she is.”

Steve hums. He doesn’t completely agree—no one knows how smart Tony is better than he does after years of listening to Tony telling him about his inventions—but he’s not going to argue the point. He wasn’t there; for all he knows, everyone was done with the exam after ten minutes.

“I’m glad to see you here,” he says instead. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it.”

Tony makes a dismissive gesture. “What’s a little light sprinting through the airport to catch the next flight?”

“And the TSA let you?”

“I told ‘em I was going to support my alpha, and they practically made a hole for me themselves. They’re big Steve Rogers’ fans, you know.”

It’s Steve’s turn to make a face. He doesn’t know how he feels about having fans. No, that’s not true. He knows exactly how he feels, and he doesn’t like it.

Tony laughs, “Yeah, exactly.”

Steve hears the coach starting to round people up for the pregame pep talk and says, “You better get out there. Don’t want you to miss the kickoff.”

“Hmm, yeah, probably,” Tony agrees and starts to walk away, grinning when Steve reels him back in. “What?”

“Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?” Steve asks.

“No?”

That innocent look on his face isn’t fooling Steve one bit. He reminds him, “Kiss for luck?”

Tony thinks about it, then gives him a teasing smile. “Hmm, I’m gonna have to go with no.”

Steve blinks at him. “No?”

“Yeah, no. But if you win, I’ll kiss you then.”

He darts away before Steve can catch him to kiss him himself, cackling like mad as he dodges his hand. Steve watches him go and shakes his head fondly. Well, now that Tony’s laid a challenge on him, guess he’ll have to win.

Looking back on it, he’ll be able to remember the game in excruciating detail. He’ll be able to sit down with Tony and watch the highlights and comment on what he was thinking at each moment of the game. Today though, it feels like barely a minute has passed before he’s standing in the winners box, looking at Tony beaming from ear to ear while someone asks him how he feels.

“Amazing,” he says honestly. He almost says something about Tony, but stops himself at the last second. That moment feels too private, too them to share on national television. He gives another couple of soundbites before the mic moves to Peter, who’d made the winning touchdown in the last second, literally.

“I think I just kind of blacked out when I caught that last ball,” Peter says blankly, still clearly in shock. “I just ran for it. I’m lucky I moved at all.”

Everyone chuckles and then they’re finally allowed down off the stage. Steve makes a beeline straight for Tony, vaguely acknowledging the people who try to talk to him. Tony is waiting for him with a softer, more teasing smile.

“Congratulations, quarterback,” Tony says once he reaches him.

“Thanks,” Steve says, grinning at him. “Now, if I remember correctly, I think this is the part where you’re supposed to kiss me.”

“Oh, is that what part this is?” Tony asks, arching his eyebrows.

“Pretty sure. I did win, after all.”

“Well, if you won,” Tony says exaggeratedly, but grabs ahold of Steve’s jersey and yanks him in. He smiles again, bright and warm and so, so proud, and then leans up and kisses him. And it’s a perfect moment, the best way to cap off the best season Steve has ever had. Steve wraps his arms around him, holding him close, and kisses him and kisses him and kisses him.

#alle writes #alle answers #stevetony #if you like please reblog #i have another request for this prompt but specifically with tony #so that'll get rolled into the second kiss prompt fics

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still-a-morosexual-help · 1 year

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Here's MY thoughts on the love island the game's seasons, for no reason other than I want to:

Also because the majority of the people following me are here for OM! & I want to drag more people down into the litg hell with me :)

Season 1: why is everyone so bitchy for no reason????? Talia & Jake are okay but other than that it's meh... don't really like the art style either

Season 2: Immaculate. Chef's kiss. They hit a high they never reached again. Somehow managed to balance the drama & the found family aspect and created a dynamic where you can actually believe everyone is friends and having fun even if sometimes they try to kill each other. Characters are flawed but generally decent people who are allowed to grow throughout the season. You get the option to make MC a bi gym-bro who can devour an entire cake in one sitting and bench press her partner. There's a reason this got two sequels.

Season 3: It's fine ig. Short and kind of boring. Nothing much happens. AJ is so cute though she almost makes up for it.

Season 4: Honestly a close 2nd favourite. We get a lot of character backstory and like s2 it touches on some serious issues. The season with some of the funniest moments/lines of dialogue - multiple moments where I just laughed out loud. I'm still only half way through it but the "villain" is just straight up mean for no reason and doesn't get any character development like the characters in S2 but makes up for it by having some of the funniest interactions with other characters and I was so sad to see her go. Also the season where I desperately wish MC was allowed to be in an open relationship till the very end and finish off the season in a polycule with every other islander who was in the love "triangle"s of the the season because this was the hardest season to pick a LI - Najuma is just all around amazing, Bruno is sweet & funny, Tom is so pathetic* MC & Thabi's friendship is also the best thing? It's great seeing a platonic relationship that is as loving (if not more so) than the romantic relationships. It's literally:

Season 5: Psychological horror. The producers said 'hey wouldn't it be funny if we torture this woman on national tv' and then committed to the bit. My memories are hazy because even though I only played it earlier this year it upset me so much I did my best to block most of it out but also I'm 100% sure there was actual galighting happening. Don't know why MC stuck around till the end because all she's gonna be able to use the money for is to pay for her therapy. Anyway I think MC should have been allowed to brutally murder everyone, she deserved it <3

Season 6: I liked the concept but I think they should have utilised it more. I'm still right at the very beginning (around ep 9) and I KNOW the general consensus from everyone who has reached the last eps seems to be that Amelia sucks MAJOR ass. But look, this is the first time a game has given me a MC with a canon family member who is also part of the game so in my opinion Amelia could commit war crimes and she's still be the most precious little uwu ever because I'm activating MC's insanely overprotective oblivious to all faults ""big"" sister mode

Edit:

*I just played more of S4 and holy shit someone needs to get this man away from his parents and also maybe get him some therapy jfc

Edit 2:

** youcef, mc & valentina helping tom figure out he likes flowers and pink and tie-dye clothes and makeup and being complimented and called pretty and getting hugs is getting to me okay his parents better watch the show and see their adult son finally discovering himself and what he likes instead of what they think he should like and finally being able to let loose and have fun without worrying about what others think of him and finally being happy and they better get some sense knocked into them OR he should go to therapy and realise that no matter how much he loves his parents their love and regard being so conditional to the point that he's hidden his entire personality and is now so extremely self-conscious of it whenever it does manage to peak out, that he nearly cries on national tv after a practical stranger compliments those hidden bits is not good. Also the man has some of the most insane repressed queer vibes???? What do you mean he sees a canon nonbinary person wearing a floppy hat and is reminded of the floppy hat he loved as a child that his father threw away and replaced with a baseball cap and then when he "lost" the baseball cap his father bought him the exact same one again

Edit 3:

*** i was 100% sure i was going to get mc to stick with najuma (dorky mischevious goth who is so so bad at flirting hello!!!?) but i got caught by "sad & shy with serious self-worth issues hidden badly behind an overconfident exterior (who blushes & gets flustered easily because he so rarely receives genuine praise/compliments) experiences postive regard for the first time and loses his shit" for the third fucking time

Edit 4:

Okay but why does Dylan get (rightfully) called out by everyone in S4 for all the bullshit he does to MC from blatantly lying to her to not listening when she says "No" But in S5 when Suresh (admittedly, more subtly) pulls off the same shit no one says anything, even MC's "friends" don't believe her.

In S2 when Luke/Henrik gets a little too forceful after MC says no, he gets called out by MC's partner and immediately apologises

In S4 when Dylan does the whole "stop pretending you don't want me" routine after MC rejects him multiple times, the rest of the islanders band together and basically chase him off the island

In S5 when Suresh pulls literally the same thing from the very first episode itself but none of the other islanders believe MC, and Suresh keeps getting to do this until almost the very end while also managing to constantly play hot & cold with MC and chase away all of MCs other romantic interests

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meri-ium · 3 months

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Hai everyone!! I have more stuff that I want to talk about with my silly little horror game idea! It might be a little discombobulated cause I’m just writing everything down. I’ll color code stuff so you can jump to whatever part of the post :] I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH COLORS IM SORRY

Names:

Inspiration:

Style:

Horror aspect:

Main Plot Summary:

Rolling Mechanic:

Character Stats:

Concept Art!

First is names, I think they match the characters very well! Anyway, enough stalling. Sister’s name is Vixen and the brother’s name is Maverick.

Indigo Park did make the initial spark for all this, but the game also reminded me of an old memory. When I was little I went to a fair, I don’t remember too much but it looked like it was abandoned but still running. I think it was the last week or 2 of it being up because the next time I saw that place it was gone I can only assume though, anyway we're moving on.

I was thinking about whether I would want it to be 3d or 2d, I’ve decided I wanted it to be 2d, more specifically an RPG. Like Mad Father, Ib, The witch's house, etc…

I want the game to be scary without having gore/blood and I think I can manage that with more creepy factors like the sound track/effects, off putting faces, stuff like that! Now, the main plot of the whole game. Which I’ve written down and depending on which character you choose, the wording will change to make more sense. so go ahead and read :]

Main plot:

It’s the last week of the fair festival, you’ve so busy due to…now you finally have time to go. It’s the last day, make it count! [Exploring the house might be a good idea before leaving, you don't want to forget anything!] Finally, you’ve made it but It seems you got here earlier than...maybe you should get tickets so it won't be a hassle later.

You’d be able to make your first roll while waiting in the parking lot 1-4 is a fail, 5-7 is a mid-success, and 8-10 is a full success! I won’t spoil more than that but I will say I want the dice rolling to be important to the game play.

Stats

Alissa’s stats:

Intelligence-12 +2

Creativity-10 no buff

Speed-6 -2

Strength-8 -1

Vixen’s stats:

Intelligence-10 +1

Creativity-7+1

Speed-12 +2

Strength-10 +2

Maverickr’s stats:

Intelligence-5 no buff

Creativity-5 +1

Speed-8 +1

Strength-6 -2

Little silly concept art

That’s the end of my post, hope you liked it and thank you for reading! :D

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salty-medley · 3 months

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Can we talk five minutes how almost any show or game about horses is incredibly bad?

Some of you may have heard about Unicorn Academy, a show where 6 young unicorn riders save their school and new world from the threat of an evil sorceress.

Pretty classic you'd tell me, but there were already some dark clouds, mostly in the attitude of Ava, the nature rider. Described as "empathetic", she appeared to be childish, clingy, doesn't respect others' boundaries and playing the victim when her target finally bite back. Yet, others tend to give her reason because she's in a constant "kawaii" mode and keep babbling about positivity.

It's something SSO players know well: toxic positivity. You're not allowed to feel bad and express it, you need to be po-si-ti-ve!

Well, Unicorn Academy season 2 just started and the first episode happen to be about handling fights, and... Something which bugged me off since season 1: the way people who weren't chosen by unicorns were treated. We met Danny, an unknown guy who's acting a bit sus' and tries to befriend River, who's unsure about himself due to his rider's attitude. We finally discover than Danny was one of these persons who were called to the island for the trial, then, due to not bonding, was sent home. And here's the two things I find incredibly bad about this idea:

That strange system. Chosen ones are a common element in fantasy, but none of them make you hope, come, let an unknown element decide of your fate, just to finally be rejected. It's just stupid, how did they pick you in the first place if you're not special enough to bond? It's not even like if it was something you were supposed to work for, it's just hazardous.

The aftermath. They send people home WITHOUT making them loosing that memory. Imagine the result: you're a kid, you'll spend the rest of your childhood and life to feel not good enough, to not be able to join that magical world you were allowed to see for a brief time. It's incredibly damaging for your confidence and how you see yourself. Danny was of course wrong to try to force a bond but was he wrong about the whole thing? No. He was entirely right to feel robbed and was also right about River's rider attitude. Also the lukewarm reply of the headmistress... "You probably can do good elsewhere failure now get out of my island" was the feeling she was giving, at least the local Griselda was more honest about it HER. Most probably we'll never heard about Danny anymore after that episode and the chosen ones will raving about being heroes while the ones who didn't have their luck will silently despair without anybody able to understand why in their life as this island is a secret.

Anyways nice animation but terrible messages.

#unicorn academy

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sakuracoloring · 3 months

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Cami's Commentary #6 - Random

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「ようこそ！」　。。。

Good morning/afternoon/night to whoever may be reading this! It's late but I feel like writing stuff, so here we go :)

JLPT: I did the JLPT/日本語能力試験 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) on Sunday for the N5 level for the first time :D Honestly, I feel like I went well (my main concerns were my phone ringing out of the blue, even though I had turned it off nicely and it was in silent mode, and not being able to hear the audio part, but thankfully everything went well) and I really hope to pass. If I do, I'll probably start studying for N4 as soon as possible (though I don't think I'll be prepared enough to do the December test already), but let's see how it goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've never been so excited during a test before lol

MOVIESSSSS: I surprisingly woke up early today and chose to not be a lazy bum who watches youtube shorts on her bed for like 2 hours, so I decided to watch some movies! (yippeeee) :D I started out by watching Little Darlings, which I really liked. The story was pretty interesting, the main leads had believable acting (which is hella important), and shaggy hair Matt Dillon my beloved was there (which is even more important). Kinda unrelated but I feel like his shaggy hair era is a bit forgotten :( Idk, I just find more about his Outsiders era and nowadays on here and pinterest, so that's kinda the impression I get from the fandom/fanbase (Idk if I should call it that). Anyways, it was funny and emotional at the right times (and Randy was adorable), so I'd give it an 8/10. I then watched Juno, which has been on my watchlist for a pretty long time, and I loved it :3 It was better than I expected (though I did not expect to see Dwight's actor and Spiderman's J. J. Jameson's actor there lol), and the ending scene made me squeal as if I were watching a cute cat video. Solid 10/10. Finally, I watched Liar's Moon. It was pretty good ngl, (Matt looked so handsome wtf) but the whole possible incest plot twist thing was hella weird, so I'd give it a 7.5/10. Feel free to give me any movie suggestions :) (especially if Matt Dillon is in it lol)

The Outsiders on roblox: Idk if any of y'all play roblox, but I do (been using the same account from 7 years ago lol, it holds many memories) and I thought of searching ''the outsiders'' on it to see if there were any games ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and so there's these two(?) games, but only one of them is mainly played by roleplayers n stuff. So a few weeks ago, I remember going there and always seeing the same two Ponyboy and Johnny roleplayers (I even remember talking to a girl who wasn't roleplaying and she was pissed that people shipped the greasers together lol), and like, they were ALWAYS on there. I'd log in at 7am, then like 9pm of THE SAME DAY and they'd be there. I also tested this on multiple days. And just them yk, not even a Dally or TwoBit to be there too, and even now when I don't see them that often in game, I always ask myself ''are they gonna be there?'' lol Also, I've also played the Cherry Valance obby (not bad), and the beginning of the obby mentions it's based on the Darry obby, which I haven't been able to find, so if anyone has the link, please lmk :3

I have to sleep rn (doctor's appointment tomorrow), so that'll be it for today. Thank you so much for making it this far into my written yap session :) I really appreciate your attention <3

See you next time! ☆

-Cami

#blog #matt dillon #brazil #hiperfixation #vent #liars moon #juno #jlpt #jlpt n5 #little darlings #new to tumblr #cinnamoroll #random #the outsiders #the outsiders roblox #roblox

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squishlordkiwi · 1 year

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Did a 15+ hour road trip with my fam twice a little ago and I drove a good chunk of it. Used AA/DGS music to keep me awake bc music psych is a blessing sometimes. Anyway, just a roundabout way to say, I have discovered some fun things in the music that made me 👀👀👀 Idk if anyone else has noticed any of it (and I will say I have minimal music theory knowledge but I'm an English major with the tendency to read into symbolism way too much), but feel to keep reading if you're interested! Spoilers for DGS2 are in here, fair warning!

I'll try and include links to the songs when I can! It'll probably be a mix of Spotify and YouTube hyperlinks so bear with me. Fair warning, this is super long because I decided to cram everything in one post oops lmao

The Funky Time Signature

The first thing I really ever noticed was that Sholmes' "Dance of Deduction"s were weird in terms of keeping beat. It's not in common time aka 4/4 aka 8-count; I think it's in 7/8 time (so you count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 etc. etc.) which is a struggle to maintain counting since people are so used to 3, 4, and 8-counts.

Dance of Deduction - Type A

I found sheet music for easier counting! It says it's in 7/4: https://youtu.be/51vTmoQzwI8

Originally, I thought it was just because he's Weird and Silly™, but I ended up listening to "Partners - The game is afoot" which plays when Sholmes and Yuujin are on the S.S. Grouse trying to deduce where Jigoku is.

Partners - The game is afoot!

This one is surprisingly in 4/4 aka common time (you count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 etc. etc. [though I have seen sheets put it in 12/8, which is close-ish, but it still has an even counting pattern WHICH IS WHAT MATTERS]). So in actuality, Shomles' Dance of Deductions aren't in a weird time signature because he's our favorite eccentric boy (okay, it might be part that too); it's because he's missing his partner after he left and investigating never felt quite right without him. Once he and Yuujin get to investigate together again, he's whole and happy. And it's just so fucking gay I can't.

Harpsichord

The big thing I noticed while I was driving (because there was nothing else interesting on the road) was the use of harpsichords in certain Londoner themes, specifically Stronghart, van Zieks, Iris, and Kazuma's prosecutor theme, as well as some of the final songs during 2-4&5.

If you don't know, this is what a harpsichord sounds like! Yes, I know I'm a nerd for being able to pick it out and name it while driving lmao

You can hear it a lot in Stronghart's theme, specifically around 0:38-0:49 (it's pretty in the background so you kinda have to strain your ears but it's there), but it's also pretty present throughout his theme.

Lord Chief Justice Stronghart - Time-Keeper of the Law

There's also a lot of it in van Zieks' theme as well; it's right off the bat and it's one of the prominent instruments throughout the piece.

Barok van Zieks - The Reaper of the Bailey

You have to really be listening for it, but it pops up occasionally in Iris' theme as well! You kinda have to strain your ears during 0:16-0:30 to hear it, but it's definitely there. It's more hidden compared to van Zieks'.

Iris Wilson - Young Biographer

I know Kazuma is Japanese, however, since he became a prosecutor in Britain, it still counts and it makes more sense once I tell you why it's all related (if you haven't guessed yet). ANYWAY, his theme also has a lot of harpsichord in it, even in the parts that were from his original theme.

A Prosecutor, Reborn

This could all just be a stylistic choice too, but do you see it yet? All the people who correspond with these themes are directly related to the Professor killings. van Zieks and Kazuma have the most prominent because we know by 2-4 the obvious connections they both hold. Iris and Stronghart's are more in the background since both of their involvements are big reveal-type deals by the end of the game.

Bonus points: the actual theme that plays when anything related to the Professor is mentioned also has some background harpsichord to connect it all.

The Professor - A Spectre Revived

I will note that I didn't notice anything in Gregson's theme, even though he played a big part in the false conviction. Courtney Sythe's theme also has some harpsichord, but I can't remember how she's related to it other than the fact that she helped with the autopsy (which probably means I should replay the games again lol).

Other game music that proves the connection:

Enoch Drebber - Rondo of Science and Magic

The Great Gateway to the Truth

The Prison Warders

The Great Closed Trial - Court is Now in Session

Reminiscences - The Fruits of Ambition

Others I probably completely missed

A Prosecutor, Reborn

Speaking of Kazuma's prosecutor theme, one of the really cool things about its composition is the warring back and forth between itself. It starts with the completely new theme, blending his usual string accompaniment with drums/cymbals, singular bell tolls, and harpsichord. When it gets to around 0:47, you hear the bells and then it switches back to his original theme from Adventures, though it's a lot grander now and lacking a lot of the traditional Japanese elements it once had.

A Prosecutor, Reborn

Kazuma Asougi - Samurai on a Mission

And it bounces back and forth like that until the end of the song, the bells signifying the shifting. It goes to show this internal struggle Kazuma is having between finding the truth even if it's something he won't like (his original theme) and following his emotions to falsely convict van Zieks as revenge (the beginning chunk of his prosecutor theme).

I also think it's interesting how dominating the harpsichord is, again especially over the chunks of his original theme from Adventures. In connection to it being related to the Professor, aside from the obvious connection to his father, it also shows how much influence and manipulation Stronghart had over him, with him being the BBEG.

Siblings

One of my favorite things I noticed was Susato and Kazuma's connections through themes, though not the one you're thinking. Kazuma's official theme I'm sure has a few connections to Susato's (but I haven't listened closely enough to hear them), however I really noticed how intertwined the two were when I listened to Kazuma's unused theme they provided in Chronicles.

Susato Mikotoba - A New Bloom in the New World

Kazuma Asougi (Unused)

Many of the same instruments are used, as well as note and chord progressions. They have the same peaceful/serene vibes too, which is understandable in why Kazuma's was scrapped (even if I do like it a lot). But if this ended up being Kazuma's actual theme, I would've noticed the familial relationship they share instead of my initial thoughts of it purely just being professional.

That's all I've really noticed for now, but I'm sure I'll come across more things as I listen to the soundtrack to study. I will, however, shut up now and let you get back with you day/night/whatever time of day it is for you because this is getting l o n g. If you did read this far, thank you for indulging me and listening to me be a complete nerd ^w^ And definitely feel free to share your thoughts too; I love talking about this stuff if you couldn't tell!

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woso-fan13 · 2 years

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2. Homesick

“Woah, hey, now. Why are we crying? Are you hurt? Did something happen? Do you need me to get someone?”

Rose panicked when she walked into your shared room and saw you crying. She had invited you out with some of the other players earlier, but you had wanted to settle into the hotel. She completely understood, she remembers how overwhelming her first camp was.

But you were just fine when she left 2 hours ago, and she couldn’t figure out what had happened. She was worried that something had happened and that you wouldn’t be able to practice tomorrow.

You shake your head, trying to stop the tears. Rose was slightly reassured, but she was still ready to go get some help. Someone more responsible, someone who was better at dealing with emotions. It was very clear that you needed an adult and she was not prepared for this.

“Rose?” you ask.

“Yeah?”

“Would everyone be mad if I left?”

“Why would you leave? Did something happen? Do you not want to play?”

“I want to go home,” you finally admit.

Rose understands the situation now. When she first started traveling for soccer, it was so hard being away. She kicks her shoes off by the door, coming into the room. She settles on the bed with you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you close.

In a whisper, you say, “I want my mom.”

This just about breaks Rose’s heart. You were so young, so new to the professional soccer world. You were 14, you shouldn’t be used to leaving home for long periods of time. But your future wasn’t at home, your future was travel and camps. And it sucked, so Rose said that.

“I’m sorry, kid. I know it sucks.”

After this, she allows you to feel your feelings. She sits with you, a comfortable warmth as you cry. She doesn’t try to stop you, she just sits with you. It was a shitty situation and you were allowed to be sad.

When your tears are finally slowing down, she squeezes you tightly. The time when you recovered also allowed her to come up with a game plan.

“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to go wash the tears off of your face while I text the team. Everyone is going to come here and we’re going to have a movie night. Your pick, whatever you want. And I know at least a few people smuggled in some banned snacks, so we’ll have a feast. And in the morning, when you’ve had some sleep and don’t have giant bags under your eyes, we can talk and make a plan. Sounds good?”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure everyone is already busy, I don’t want to interrupt anything.”

“Y/N, look at me. This is important. This team is a family and family shows up for each other. I’ve seen the way everyone interacts with you, they will drop anything to come spend time with you. We’re not trying to replace your family, we’re just hoping to add to it. Let us support you, okay?”

You nod, overwhelmed by the support. Rose smiles, pulling you off of the bed. She shoos you into the bathroom to clean up. Not even a minute later, you heard banging on the door. Rose must have opened it, as footsteps soon enter.

By the time you have pulled yourself together enough to make your way back into the room, most of the team is gathered there. You notice that the door is slightly propped open, pointing to the fact that there are still more to come. Rose, seeing you, gestures you over to join her. You allow yourself to be pulled down and into her side.

Suddenly, the door swings open, a frantic Kelley on the other side.

“Is she okay? What happened?“

Rose laughs at the overdramatics, “Kel, she’s fine. She’s just a little h-o-m-e-s-i-c-k. Relax.”

“Thank God. Rose, you can’t just text that something’s wrong with Y/N and not respond to other messages. I just left a date and ran 6 blocks to get back here.”

Now you feel slightly guilty. You had made Kelley worry and leave her date early.

“Sorry,” you say quietly, not making direct eye contact.

“Don’t worry about it kid, really. I needed an excuse to leave anyway. Now, pick a movie.”

You manage to pick a movie (with tons of unwanted opinions) and get it started. As the opening credits are playing, you look to Rose.

“Rose?”

She hums in response, already invested in the movie.

“Thanks. But you do know that I’m 14, not 4. I can spell.”

She simply shrugs, turning back to the movie.

#uswnt fanfic #woso imagines #uswnt imagines #uswnt x reader #uswnt players #uswnt imagine #uswnt woso #reader insert #woso imagine #woso soccer #woso #womens soccer

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pkg4mumtown · 1 year

Text

Through Glass (Ch. 7)

Chapter 7: The Distance

Rating: T

Summary: Stephen and Strange finally go head to head.

A/N: Uhhhhhhhh, remember when I apologized last chapter for up and disappearing? Yea…SORRY. Life has been very very busy. Sorry for this being relatively short.

Strange = Dr. Strange in reader’s universe

Stephen = Strange-Supreme

Warnings: Feelings of being watched, Multiversal Stalking, Possessive!Stephen, Eventual body horror, Gender Neutral Pronouns for Reader, No Y/N, First Person POV, What If AU where Reader dies instead of Christine, Strange-Supreme just needs a hug honestly, Stephen in Reader’s universe is a big dummy, Stephen is touch starved, consentacles (ch.6), smut (ch.6), reader/monster romance

Catch up with Chapter: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

I've seen this yearning take on a frightening form The memory of you will make sure my past lingers on And I still love how you say my name I still taste you kissing my pain away Still see your tears through the rain

After Wong had left to prepare the Kamar-Taj and the other sanctums for yet another attack—despite still recovering from Wanda, Strange hit the ground running on a solution. He logically expected pushback in the form of a fight but without Wong to help with preparing a heavy-duty protection spell, it took him a lot longer to prepare. Between that and coming up with a game plan that Wong would approve, Strange took a little longer than he’d like for such a pressing matter. Once he was ready, however, he wasn’t going to be stopped by any coyness or front doors. He was getting straight to the point and finally finishing this drawn-out incident.

—

The next twelve (or so) hours that Stephen and I shared together were pure domesticated bliss. But, with bliss eventually comes hunger.

I spread the last of the cream cheese on a toasted bagel, tossing the knife in the sink and grabbing both plates to head to the living room.

“Here’s your—shit!” I started, just about jumping out of my skin as I saw Strange stepping through a portal with his eyes trained on me. I was able to keep the bagels from an untimely meeting with the floor. “Hungry?” I pushed the plate toward Strange, glad Stephen was nowhere in sight. He had probably sensed him incoming and had no time to warn me.

“Two bagels?” Strange asked with an unimpressed raise of an eyebrow.

“I’m glad you can count. Bagel?”

“Where is he?” Strange demanded.

“Who?”

“I’m really not in the mood for you to play dumb,” Strange groaned, using magic to remove the plates from my hands. Thankfully, they reappeared elsewhere. “The person who was going to eat the other bagel, your dog, whatever you’re calling him. Where. Is. He?”

“Are you saying I can’t eat two bagels by myself? Because I totally could and I’m prepared to prove you wrong.”

I didn’t realize I’d been shuffling backwards until my shoulder hit the edge of the hallway. It was stupid really, attempting to rush into my room and close the door knowing full well Strange could just wiggle his fingers and make something happen. But I attempted it anyway and now I was locked inside of my, now doorless, room with him.

“Now…” Strange sighed at my minor inconveniences, “…the faster you give him up, the faster this gets over with. Youasked me for help, remember? So, if he’s threatening you, I can help with that.” Strange continued walking toward me until I was backed against the wall with no way out, “However, if you’re protecting him…”

My eyes flicked over Strange’s shoulder, spying Stephen’s murderous reflection in the mirror, “Step back, please.”

“Why? Is your dog going to come take a bite out of me?” Strange huffed, glancing over his shoulder but not seeing the reflection that I had.

“You’re going to piss him off!”

“Who?!” He shouted.

“You! Okay!?” I snapped.

Strange’s face fell as Wong’s assessment was confirmed by my confession. Strange mumbled a curse and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Hey, asshole!” Strange turned and yelled into the room, arms spread open. He walked to the middle of the room, monitoring any reflections he could. After a beat of silence, he locked eyes with me again, “I’m assuming he got spooked and went back in when I arrived?”

I rolled my eyes at “spooked” and shrugged, “Most likely.”

“Good,” he smirked, moving his arms in wide motions, creating a complex sigil before my eyes. “I’m locking him out for good, this time.”

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach despite knowing my Stephen was stronger. What if Strange could pull it off? Then what?

“No!” I lurched forward, stupidly grabbing his arm mid-cast. “You can’t! He’s not a bad person!”

Strange stepped away from me, pausing the casting so I didn’t hurt myself, “I’m trying to protect you! Just like you asked!”

“You don’t even know me!”

“That didn’t matter before. And anyway, it’s for the best. Knowing me would put you in danger that you couldn’t handle,” Strange snarled grimly, drawing his brows together.

“According to you, I already am.”

Strange huffed as his concentration broke, moving away from me and stomping over to the large mirror where most of the energy had been concentrated before.

“Strange, dammit!” I shoved his shoulder as he began to cast the spell again.

“You are pushing every last button I have,” he growled, shaking me off his shoulder.

Facing the mirror again, Strange quickly shuffled back a few steps as Stephen appeared, fully decked out in his menacing creature form.

Shit.

“Oh, he’s not bad, huh?” Strange stressed, waving an arm out to the mirror. “Look at him!”

Strange restarted the spell again only for me to shove him harder. I had barely made contact when I was pushed by an invisible force, landing hard on the floor with a groan. I stood back up, no injuries to speak of other than a bruised ego and a bruised ass.

“Uh, ow?”

“If you’d’ve stayed back, I wouldn’t hav—,” Strange was cut off as tentacles suddenly pushed through the mirror, wrapping around Strange’s neck, wrists, and torso. He was lifted off the ground, bringing him eye level to Stephen, while keeping his hands apart.

Stephen leaned out of the mirror, snarling and growling filling up the room instantly, “Don’t you dare bring harm to them again! You know how important they are to us, coward!”

“They’re not—gah—yours to protect,” Strange choked out. “What happened—to—yours, hmm?”

“They’re gone,” Stephen brought his face even closer to Strange’s then glanced slightly upwards to Strange’s forehead. “Oh…,” Stephen chuckled, “…how precious.”

Strange’s fists were clenched, wrists contorting as he tried to over power Stephen as violet magic emanated from his fists. It was only then that I noticed the third eye on Strange’s face. Not that more than two eyes was strange to me at this point, I just wasn’t aware that Strange had some of that funk going on, too.

“The Darkhold, Doctor? What a hypocrite!” Stephen spat.

“I—did what I—had to do,” Strange gurgled.

“To save the girl, yes. I’m aware America Chavez resides here. Great kid. Anyway,” Stephen brought Strange’s hand in between them with a tentacle, “Here’s the difference between you and me, Doc.” With some effort, Stephen managed to force one of his arms back to his human form from the elbow down to his fingers. He put their hands side by side, one heavily scarred and shaking while the other stood unmarred and perfectly still, and snarled, “You didn’t have to lose them to follow your fate into the Mystic Arts. I did!”

As Stephen said his piece, I felt for Strange as I watched his face grow a deeper red—borderline purple—and worryingly so as the tentacles seemed to squeeze harder the more Stephen raged on. Hesitantly, I approached, making sure Shumi was able to sense my presence amidst all the emotion before laying a hand on the tentacle wrapped around Strange’s neck.

“Stephen, please,” I asked softly.

“Get back,” Strange wheezed, more air than noise escaping.

Stephen snarled at Strange before glancing at me from the corner of a few of his eyes, while the others stayed trained on Strange.

“Put him down before something bad happens. This universe still needs its Doctor Strange.”

Stephen responded with something akin to a grumble and loosened up the tentacles, letting Strange drop to his feet with a not-so-gentle thud.

“Wha—?” Strange wheezed, clutching his neck and his face only donning two eyes once more, but still staring at Stephen’s bare arm. “Ah—How?”

“The car accident,” Stephen’s voice distorted midway through speaking as he calmed the beings inside him and switched back to his human form; his body going back behind the mirror. His red and purple robes sat heavily on his shoulders contrasting his gaunt, pale features with his light brown hair contrasting Strange’s deep, black hair. “They died in the car accident. In my accident.”

“Y—you knew them…before?” Strange cleared his throat, eyes squinting as he tried to piece together Stephen’s timeline.

Stephen’s head nodded silently, eyes cast downward at the mention of his past; clearly still feeling the weight of the guilt of his actions.

“So, you joined the Mystic Arts and turned yourself in to this? Do I even want to know what you did?!” Strange berated him. “You could have gone back to work but you chose this instead?”

Stephen’s face snapped up, a snarl marring his human features. He charged toward the mirror with fists balled and fury in his eyes, “They meant more to me than work! That’s the difference between you and me.”

Strange responded in kind, bringing up huge orange runes to shield himself in case Stephen did anything.

“Stop!” I snapped. “Look, Strange, he’s been here for months and hasn’t done anything bad. Those aren’t his intentions.”

“He’s still dangerous,” Doctor Strange stated matter of factly.

“He’s no—.”

“You have no idea what just his presence could do here, okay? Just his being here destabilizes the multiverse and could cause far more harm than he may intend,” Strange raised his voice, just on the edge of condescending despite the glare from Stephen.

“I—is that true?” I stalled thickly, looking over at Stephen for answers.

“It’s hypothetica—.”

“It’s actually very real, thank you,” Strange interrupted. “Incursions are not to be trifled with.”

Stephen scoffed, “Please, I’ve hopped around the multiverse plenty and nev—.”

“Oh my fu…,” Strange trailed off, running a hand over his tired face.

“For good reason! There have been plenty of multiversal disasters prevented thanks to me, your highness. So, you’re welcome for dealing with them before they reached your universe.”

“Coming from someone who has had to rectify his own incursion, they are still not to be brushed off as hypothetical!” Strange stressed.

“I jus—.”

“—Haven’t you ruined enough!?” Strange nearly shouted.

Stephen stopped speaking immediately, suddenly feeling very small despite the power inside him.

“From the looks of it, your universe isn’t doing too hot,” Strange made a show of peering around Stephen. “Then you drove erratically with them in the car and had the audacity to think you could…what? Fix it? Without consequences? Am I on the right track?”

Stephen was still silent.

“Stephen…” I murmured.

“No,” he whispered back. “He’s right.”

“No...,” my eyes widened.

“I’ll leave,” Stephen nodded, finally picking his eyes up and looking at me. “I just wanted more time.”

“Please don’t go,” I pushed forward to the mirror, feeling my throat tightening with every word.

“I have to,” Stephen looked away, the sight of tears pooling in my eyes suddenly too much for him to watch. “You were never mine to have anyway. You’re his.”

Overwhelmed with anger, I hit the wall next to the mirror with my palm and ignored the pain thereafter, “No one owns me! He doesn’t even know me! Not like you do!” I blew up at the mirror. My chest heaved with furious breathing and hitched breaths underneath the sight of tears making their way down my cheeks.

“I know, hey…” Stephen pushed himself part way through the mirror, not caring if Strange protested or not. He pressed his forehead against mine and settled his hands on the outside of my upper arms, rubbing his hands up and down to calm me. “…I know. And I don’t agree with him but…”

“I’m right here,” Strange scoffed distantly.

“…I’m sorry,” Stephen murmured.

I was barely able to brush my lips against his before he was pulling away completely, looking completely dejected and defeated without Strange even having to lift a finger to accomplish it. I slowly stepped back out of shock that this was happening.

“Whatever Multiversal saving you’ve been doing aside…I’m going to need you to respect this for this universe at least,” Strange sighed. “I really don’t want to drag Wong here to help me seal the place up.”

Stephen nodded solemnly.

“You can't make him go!” I suddenly blurted out, grabbing onto Strange’s forearm. “You can’t do this! He just wants to feel again!” Strange kept his arm strong to keep me back from the mirror as my words slowly disintegrated into sobs. My weight shifted ominously making Strange shift to catch me and help lower me to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I—“

“Don’t touch me! Get the fuck out of my house!” I pushed him away and used my feet to scoot myself away from him. I pressed my back against the wall, bringing my palms to my eyes and refusing to see Stephen drift away like a dream.

“Doc…” Stephen murmured over my sobs.

Strange closed his eyes and straightened himself up, giving his attention over to the pale face in the mirror.

“You don’t need to do this self-sacrificing stunt that we always pull,” Stephen muttered. “You can still fix things with them.”

“You’re the last person who should be giving advice,” Strange rolled his eyes.

“On the contrary, and don’t look at me like that. I am you. I clocked your idiotic plan a few weeks into being here,” Stephen snapped and then sighed again, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “Look, I’ve made a lot of mistakes but them? They were never a mistake.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Strange flicked his eyes over to my curled up ball of a form.

“You’re allowed to feel and be human. You do deserve to be loved and happy.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to love someone or to have them love me,” Strange’s voice wavered. “I’m scared to lose them.”

“So, you keep them at a distance before anything can begin, I get it. But, as much as you think they’re not, they are safer with you. And despite what you’ve pulled so far, they’re forgiving to a fault—given some time. You have a chance still. Take it from me…Don’t. Waste. It. It could be your last one.”

Strange watched as his darker self turned around and walked away, slowly fading out into Strange’s own reflection. With my sobs still filling the suddenly quiet room, Strange stepped carefully out of the room. He waved his hand, making my bedroom door appear again and disappeared through a circle of sparks. The crackling sparks fizzled out moments later, leaving only me to fill the silence.

Don't you worry There'll be a time when our hearts beat the same Let life carry Across the distance I still see your flame

The Distance - Poets of the Fall (x)

Chapter 8 - Coming Soon

#stephen strange x reader #doctor strange x reader #gender neutral reader #marvel fanfiction #strange supreme x reader #Series: Through Glass #my art

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